Pioneering scheme giving free healthy school meals must be saved from axe

New research seen by CPAG has shown that Hull City Council’s scheme to provide free healthy school meals to school children is bringing many benefits, including:

• High school meal uptake
• Decrease in children distracted by hunger in afternoon lessons
• Pupils working harder with more positive attitudes and better performance

But the Liberal Democrat Council says it will scrap the scheme when the 3 year pilot ends in March. This is despite the Council voting by 29 to 25 last year in favour of retaining the policy in July 2006.

Only 29% of parents say they would pay for school meals if the scheme ended, compared to 64% of children taking advantage of the free scheme - up from 36% at the start of the pilot.

Child Poverty Action Group’s Chief Executive, Kate Green, said:

“Free school meals make a big difference to the poorest families struggling to make ends meet. They don’t just help family budgets, they help ensure that children gain as much as possible from their education. The whole school benefits too, with classes becoming more attentive and responsive to teaching.

“Hull City Council should be celebrating and extending this excellent scheme and acting as a beacon for other councils. Scrapping the scheme will show how low down the needs of children feature in their priorities.”

For further information please contact:
Tim Nichols
CPAG Press Officer
Tel. 020 7812 5216 or 07816 909302
press@cpag.org.uk