Free school meals change set to benefit hundreds

Hundreds more children in Birmingham could be given free school meals under a change being worked on by the city council.

Child poverty is one of the city’s most pressing issues with tens of thousands of children affected across the area.

Council leader John Cotton confirmed plans were being worked on to automatically enrol children in Birmingham who were eligible for free school meals but not currently taking them up.

Analysis showed the change would immediately benefit more than 2,300 children from the city’s poorest households, the authority said.

According to the Labour-run council, families who qualify for free school meals usually have to register children to get a meal, even if they meet the criteria.

Some eligible families did not sign up because of issues including language barriers, not understanding the criteria or because of a stigma around sharing financial information, the authority said.

At Tuesday’s full council meeting, councillor Cotton said: “This is a really important move that will tackle term-time hunger for many children.

“It will make a huge difference to struggling families across Birmingham if we cut the red tape, reduce stigma and make it easier for children in this city to access the healthy, nutritious food that they need…auto-enrolment also provides one less thing for families to worry about who are already under a lot of stress.”

Cotton said the government was determined to tackle child poverty and praised the chancellor’s decision to extend the Household Support Fund until March 2026 in the recent Budget.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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