More than 100,000 children in England are missing out on free school meals because of inflation, new research shows.
The government has been accused of using a freeze on the eligibility threshold to “snatch school lunches away by stealth”.
Controversial rules mean families may receive free school meals only if their income is less than £7,400 a year before benefits and after tax.
If the limit had been allowed to rise in line with inflation, it would now be £8,575 – making around 110,000 more children eligible, according to analysis by the Liberal Democrats.
Munira Wilson, the Lib Dems’ education spokesperson, said: “The government is snatching school lunches away from children by stealth.”
The senior MP added: “Every year that ministers keep this callous policy, thousands of children in hard-working families, struggling to make ends meet, lose out. Freezing the threshold is morally, economically and politically bankrupt.”
The government has so far refused campaigners’ calls to extend the eligibility of free school meals, despite growing evidence of the devasting impact of the cost of living crisis.
The Independent has partnered with the Food Foundation for the Feed the Future campaign, calling for an extension of free school meals to all children in poverty in England.
The Lib Dems, the Green Party, senior Labour and Tory MPs have backed the call to widen support to the estimated 800,000 children in poverty unable to get free school meals because their family’s income.
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However, Rishi Sunak and his chancellor Jeremy Hunt are set to reject any extension of free school meals at the 17 November autumn Budget.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan has free school meals are “always kept under review” but the chancellor has no plans to widen eligibility next week, according to The Sun.
Department for Work and Pensions figures show that around 1.07 million children from the ages of five and 16 in England live in households below the threshold. But 1.18 million children would be under the limit if it had risen with inflation.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education (DfE) said: “We understand the pressures many households are under. That is why we are supporting more children and young people than ever before.
“Over a third of pupils in England currently receive free school meals in education settings and we are investing up to £24m in our national school breakfast programme, which provides free breakfasts to children in schools in disadvantaged areas,” they added.
