Almost 40,000 children in Hull and East Yorkshire will receive free school meals from next year after an expansion of eligibility rules.
Currently, all children in England can get free school meals until the end of Year 2, but after that, children can only get free meals if their family earns less than £7,400 a year after benefits. This is set to change from September 2026 when all children in Universal Credit receiving households will be able to get a free school lunch, the government has announced.
The government estimates that an additional 500,000 children in England will now be eligible for free school meals, in a move that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty. In Hull and East Yorkshire, a total of 38,900 children will now be able to receive free meals.
More children will benefit in Karl Turner’s Hull East constituency than anywhere else in the region where a total of 10,390 will now be eligible for free school meals. On Facebook, the local MP, Mr Turner said: “This is a huge step forward — making life more affordable for struggling families and ensuring kids have the nutrition they need to thrive.”
Elsewhere in the city, in the Hull North and Cottingham constituency, 8,920 children will be able to claim free meals, and in Hull West and Haltemprice, 7,150 will be able to eat for free during the school term.
The numbers of children that will now be eligible for free lunches in the East Riding constituencies is as follows:
Beverley and Holderness – 3,560
Bridlington and The Wolds – 4,860
Goole and Pocklington – 4,020
On the free school meal expansion, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has 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.
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
