Fighting for free school meals
- Laurence Turner
- Jan 23, 2018
- 2 min read
GMB believes that all children should have a basic right to at least one hot, nutritious meal a day.
We are proud to be the union that represents school catering staff and lunchtime supervisors. With Mary Turner leading the way, we have campaigned for free school meals over many decades.
Mary Turner, in 2010, launching a campaign for free school meals with then Labour Shadow Education Secretary Ed Balls
Obesity is on the rise, and 8% of children who don’t receive school meals bring no food at all to school. This is not just a social cause – it is a moral one too.
But if the Government has its way, a severe new restriction on free school meal eligibility will soon be introduced.
Under plans due to be implemented from April, free school meals will be restricted to households that receive Universal Credit and earn just £7,400 before benefits.
There are no plans to vary this cap by the number of adults in work, the number of children in the household, or even by annual inflation.
Kids currently receiving free school meals will be protected until they reach the end of primary or secondary school. But this still means that many parents of 10 and 11 year olds must soon find an extra £400 a year for school meals or packed lunches.
And as the cap bites, low-income parents will have to cut back their working hours or be left out of pocket. So much for ‘making work pay.’
If free school meals eligibility is reduced then catering staff roles may be placed under threat – hitting low-income areas the hardest.
GMB is the union for school support staff. We will always defend our members’ jobs.
That’s why we have submitted detailed evidence that shows just how misguided the Government’s plans are.
We need to expand free school meal entitlement, not reduce it. As councils in the North of England and London have shown, universal free school meals reduce the cost of producing each meal and help end the stigma that sadly still puts some parents off.
Free school meals are a lifeline for over a million children and their families. GMB will not stop campaigning until they are available for all.
