COVENTRY South MP Zarah Sultana’s Free School Meals for All Bill has received the backing of Coventry Foodbank founder Gavin Kibble MBE, who said around 36 per cent of those receiving help from the organisation were children.
The bill, brought to Parliament on Tuesday, would extend free school meals to all primary school pupils and has the backing of over 140 civil groups and public figures.
A Sutton Trust report this month shows a surge in hunger in schools across the country with 38 per cent of state teachers seeing more children coming to school hungry.
Gavin condemned rising food poverty in the city, adding it was ‘totally unacceptable in the UK- one of the richest countries in the world- in the 21st century.’
He added free school meals would be an ‘important element in a broad strategy to deal with the root causes of poverty in all its forms.’
In England, free school meals are currently available to children up to the end of year two.
After that, children are entitled to free school meals if parents or guardians receive benefits including universal credit, where households have an annual income under £7,400.
Westminster City Council has recently announced it would extend free school meals to all children in state primary schools, ‘saving families up to £550-a -year per child’.
Free school meals in Scotland were extended in 2020 while in Wales the Government has committed to free school meals for every child by 2024.
In the House of Commons, Ms Sultana gave examples of people she had spoken to who were suffering through not having access to free school meals.
She added teachers had ‘caught children who had been forced to steal to eat’.
One Coventrian expressed fears about whether her five-year-old son would be eligible for free school meals next year and how she would be able to pay for packed lunches.
Ms Sultana added: “Due to the cost-of-living crisis, families previously having to choose between heating and eating are now unable to do either.
“Without urgent action, children face a bleak, hungry winter.”
The Coventry South MP claimed her bill would improve the health of those currently bringing in less healthy packed lunches and destigmatise the idea of free school meals.
The Bill’s Second Reading is scheduled for January 20.
