Emma Hardy MP is backing the government’s plan to give up to 5530 children in Hull West and Haltemprice free school dinners.
• New entitlement to free schools meals for all children in Hull West and Haltemprice in
household on Universal Credit
• Delivers on Plan for Change to break down barriers to opportunity by driving better behaviour,
attainment and wellbeing in schools while putting nearly £500 in parents’ pockets
• Labour’s historic move will lift 100,000 children out of poverty and support parents in decisive
action to improve lives ahead of Child Poverty Strategy
• Comes alongside more than £13 million to ensure food that might have been left in fields
instead ends up on the plates of those who need it, including school children
Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Haltemprice has today, 5th June, come out in support of the
Labour government’s plans to deliver a free nutritious meal every school day for over half a
million more children, as Labour puts £500 back into parents’ pockets every year by expanding
eligibility for free school meals.
From the start of the 2026 school year, every pupil in Hull West and Haltemprice whose
household is on Universal Credit will have a new entitlement to free school meals. This will
make life easier and more affordable for parents who struggle the most, delivering on Labour’s
Plan for Change to break down barriers to opportunity and give children the best start in life.
The unprecedented expansion will lift 100,000 children across England completely out of
poverty. Giving children the access to a nutritious meal during the school day also leads to
higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes – meaning they get the best
possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.
Since 2018, children have only been eligible for free school meals if their household income is
less than £7,400 per year, meaning hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty has been
unable to access free school meals.
Labour’s historic new expansion to those on Universal Credit will change this and comes ahead
of the Child Poverty Taskforce publishing its ten-year-strategy to drive sustainable change later
this year. It comes on top of targeted support for families being hit the hardest with the cost-of-living crisis, with urgent action including raising the national minimum wage, uprating
benefits and supporting 700,000 families through the Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit
deductions.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“Working parents across the country are working tirelessly to provide for their families but are
being held back by cost-of-living pressures.
“My government is taking action to ease those pressures. Feeding more children every day, for
free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents’ pockets,
tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn.
“This expansion is a truly historic moment for our country, helping families who need it most and
delivering our Plan for Change to give every child, no matter their background, the same chance
to succeed.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
“It is the moral mission of this government to tackle the stain of child poverty, and today this
government takes a giant step towards ending it with targeted support that puts money back in
parents’ pockets.
“From free school meals to free breakfast clubs, breaking the cycle of child poverty is at the
heart of our Plan for Change to cut the unfair link between background and success.
“We believe that background shouldn’t mean destiny. Today’s historic step will help us to deliver
excellence everywhere, for every child and give more young people the chance to get on in life.”
Labour is also offering more than £13 million in funding to 12 food charities across England to
redistribute thousands of tonnes of fresh produce directly from farms to fight food poverty in
communities.
The Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate scheme is helping farms and organisations to work
collaboratively to ensure edible food that might have been left in fields instead ends up on the
plates of those who need it, including schoolchildren. This comes as part of Labour’s wider
Food Strategy, helping to drive change and support a healthier, more sustainable and resilient
food system.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said:
“Poverty robs children of opportunities and damages their future prospects. This is a moral scar
on our society we are committed to tackling.
“By expanding Free School Meals to all families on Universal Credit, we’re ending the impossible
choice thousands of our hardest grafting families must make between paying bills and feeding
their children.
“This is just the latest step of our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets – a
downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, building on our expansion of free breakfast clubs,
our national minimum wage boost and our cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair
Repayment Rate.”
Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Haltemprice said:
“I know from speaking to residents how much the stain of child poverty has impacted families in
Hull West and Haltemprice.
“That’s why I fully support this decisive and much needed action to expand entitlement for free
school meals, lifting up to 5,570 children across Hull West and Haltemprice out of poverty and
putting money back in parents’ pockets.
“Children across Hull West and Haltemprice deserve the best start in life, and I’m proud that
Labour is delivering this through the Plan for Change.”
To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, Labour is also acting quickly with experts
across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the
latest nutrition guidance.
This new entitlement will apply to children in all settings where free school meals are currently
delivered, including schools, school-based nurseries and Further Education settings. We expect
the majority of schools will allow parents to apply before the start of the school year 2026, by
providing their National Insurance Number to check their eligibility.
Schools and local authorities will continue to receive pupil premium and home to school
transport extended rights funding based on the existing free school meals threshold.
This is just the latest step in Labour’s Plan for Change to break the unfair link between
background and opportunity, including rolling out free breakfast clubs, expanding government
funded childcare to 30 hours a week for working parents and commitment to cap the number of
branded school uniform items.
From April 2026 until the end of parliament, millions of households are set to receive a
permanent yearly above inflation boost to Universal Credit. The increase, a key element of the
Government’s welfare reforms to be laid before Parliament, will tackle the destitution caused by
years of inaction that has left the value of the standard allowance at a 40 year low by the early
2020s.