DD2750 Additional funding for the Universal Free School Meals Programme where meal uptake exceeds 90 per cent

1.1.    The Mayor believes that all primary school children in state-funded schools, including all-through schools, academies, state-funded special schools and alternative provision (AP), as well as NMSS should have access to free school meals (FSM). In July 2023, the Mayor approved a £135m emergency funding plan to help families with the spiralling cost of living. This funding ensured that primary school children in London’s state-funded schools received FSM in the 2023-24 academic year (Mayoral Decision (MD) 3146).
1.2.    Due to the ongoing cost-of-living pressures, on 18 January 2024 the Mayor approved expenditure of up to £140m funding to boroughs to cover grants of varying amounts to be allocated to the boroughs and delivered to KS2 children in London’s state-funded primary schools. This enabled those boroughs (or the schools they fund) to continue delivering UFSM to KS2 children in London state funded primary schools for the 2024-25 academic year, with a view to continuing to help families financially.

1.3.    The Mayor approved the expenditure of up to £140m to continue to deliver UFSM to KS2 children within London state-funded primary schools for the 2024-25 academic year, to cover grants of varying amounts to be allocated to local authorities and delivered to schools, depending on the number of eligible primary-school children in the borough (this includes up to £2.5m to fund an uplift for the additional costs of Kosher meals and where exceptional costs arise for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as programme costs) (MD3224).
1.4.    As approved by MD3224, the £140m budget allocation for UFSM in the 2024-25 academic year is based on a 90 per cent pupil school meal uptake, with additional payment allowed for boroughs that can evidence uptake above 90 per cent (to be addressed in the 2025-26 budget setting process), as outlined in paragraphs 2.5-2.8 of MD3224. 
1.5.    Accordingly, state-funded schools were given the opportunity to secure additional funding if they evidenced that uptake of the scheme has exceeded 90 per cent, which will be delivered through their respective boroughs. This extra funding will be reviewed on a borough-by-borough basis according to uptake of the scheme and verified by the GLA. 
1.6.    As the £140m outlined in MD3224 included up to £2.5m to fund an uplift for the additional costs of Kosher meals and where exceptional costs arise for children with SEND (based on an assumed uptake of 100 per cent), schools in receipt of a Kosher uplift payment or SEND payment are not eligible for this additional funding as it is for schools that have been funded at 90 per cent uptake. 
1.7.    A list of boroughs that have evidenced uptake in excess of 90 per cent in their schools and by how much can be found in Appendix A.
1.8.    MD3224 delegated authority to the Executive Director of Communities and Skills to make programme-level decisions via a DD form, in consultation with the Deputy Chief of Staff and the Deputy Mayor for Children and Families.
1.9.    The Deputy Chief of Staff and the Deputy Mayor for Children and Families have been consulted on this decision and are content with the detail included.
 

2.1.    The programme objectives and expected outcomes are set out in MD3224.
2.2.    Specific objectives of the additional funding are to: 
•    help mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis by saving London’s families up to £1000 per child over the two years of the scheme; and by ensuring primary school children in state-funded schools, including all-through schools, academies, state-funded special schools, and AP, as well as NMSS, do not go without at least one nutritious meal a day during term time
•    demonstrate the Mayor’s role and commitment to address the impact of the cost of living on families, including other available sources of support. 

3.1.    Section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010 provides that, in the exercise of their functions, public authorities – of which the Mayor is one – must comply with the public sector equality duty by having due regard to the need to: 
•    eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010
•    advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it 
•    foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. 
3.2.    The Mayor recognises that the cost-of-living crisis is having an impact on many communities in London. He is committed to supporting families who are struggling financially in London through this difficult time.
3.3.    The EqIA for the programme was initially produced in July 2023. It was refreshed in July 2024, and again in December 2024, to ensure it incorporated the findings of the year one independent evaluation and the most recent data sources. The EqIA identified areas for further work or consideration for the UFSM programme, including mitigation or future monitoring. Recommendations include the continued need to address special dietary needs for faith groups (including Kosher food) and needs for pupils with SEND. The EqIA was attached to MD3224.
 

Key risks and issues 
4.1.    The key risks and issues are highlighted as follows: 

*Red = highly likelihood and/or high impact; amber = medium likelihood and/or impact; green = low likelihood and/or impact. 
Conflict of interest
4.2.    There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form. 
Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities  
4.3.    This programme links to the Mayor’s delivery of the Supporting and Investing in Young Londoners mandate which includes the following core objectives:
•    children and young Londoners achieve the health and learning outcomes they need to thrive at every stage of development
•    children and young Londoners have the positive opportunities needed to be successful
•    Londoners have the skills they need to improve their lives.
4.4.    This programme links to the Mayor’s delivery of the Robust Safety Net recovery mission, which aims to ensure that, by 2025, all Londoners can access the support they need to avoid and alleviate financial hardship. Provision of UFSM through this programme will ensure children in state-funded primary schools have at least one meal a day and reduce financial burden on parents. 
4.5.    Primarily this programme seeks to reduce the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on low-income families. 
 

5.1.    Approval is sought for the expenditure of up to £803,000 in order to increase the existing grant funding to certain London boroughs, which will then provide the funding to state-funded primary schools and non maintained special schools (NMSS) that have evidenced Universal Free School Meals (UFSM) school meal uptake above 90 per cent for the 2024-25 academic year.

5.2.    Under MD3224, the Mayor approved the expenditure of up to £140m to continue to deliver UFSM to KS2 children within London state-funded primary schools for the 2024-25 academic year. The £140m budget allocation is based on a 90 per cent pupil school meal uptake, with additional payment allowed for boroughs that can evidence uptake above 90 per cent. 
5.3.    This expenditure to increase existing grant funding to London boroughs that have evidenced uptake above 90 per cent for 2024-25 academic year will be funded from the UFSM programme budget in 2025-26 financial year. There is sufficient budget to meet this expenditure.
 

Power to undertake the requested decisions
6.1.    The decision requested of the Executive Director of Communities & Skills falls within the general powers of the Mayor, acting on behalf of the GLA, in section 30 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act) to do anything the Mayor considers will further any one or more of the GLA’s principal purposes. Those principal purposes include furthering the promotion of social development in Greater London. Section 34 of the GLA Act also allows the Mayor to do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of any functions of the GLA exercisable by the Mayor. These powers are sufficiently broad to cover the proposed use of the funds in this decision for which approval is sought. In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, the GLA has related related statutory duties to:
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people (section 33(1) of GLA Act)
•    exercise the power in section 30 of the GLA Act in the way which it considers is best calculated to promote improvements in the health of persons in Greater London, promote the reduction of health inequalities between persons living in Greater London, contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom and contribute towards the mitigation of, or adaptation to, climate change in the United Kingdom (section 30(5) of the GLA Act)
•    consult with such bodies or persons as considered appropriate in this particular case (section 32(1) of the GLA Act).
6.2     In taking the requested decisions, the Executive Director of Communities and Skills (the Director) who is exercising delegated functions on behalf of the Mayor, must comply with the public sector equality duty and therefore the Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this decision form. 
    Grant funding
6.3    The decision, above, seeks approval for expenditure of up to £803,000 in order to increase the existing grant funding to state-funded primary schools in boroughs that have evidenced UFSM school meal uptake above 90 per cent for the 2024-25 academic year. To that end, the GLA will be funding the increased provision of grant funding by the boroughs to state-funded primary schools in order to be used for the provision of FSM to KS2 children. Accordingly, there is no direct benefit to the GLA and the funding may be viewed as a grant rather than a contract. Officers are reminded to comply with section 12 of the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Furthermore, prior to the provision of the additional funding, officers must put in place either deeds of variation of existing funding agreements or new funding agreements between the GLA and the recipient boroughs.
Subsidy control
6.4    The Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the “SC Act”) requires that grant funding be assessed in accordance with a four-limbed test in order to see whether the grant funding amounts to a subsidy within the meaning of the SC Act. As explained above, the grant funding will be provided to boroughs to provide funding to primary schools for the provision of FSM. In providing the funding for FSM, the boroughs will be providing a public service. To that end, the proposed grant funding does not meet the first limb of the four-limbed test and, therefore, does not amount to a subsidy.
 

7.1.    The process for schools and boroughs to claim funding for uptake greater than 90 per cent has been outlined online, and a copy of the guidance has been issued to borough officers.
7.2.    Timeline of Activity

Appendix A – Table of boroughs to receive additional funding