FOI - Free School Meals [Apr 2025]

Request:

With respect to the Mayor of London’s free school meals rollout please indicate the following, in all cases an estimate will do. This relates specifically to the Mayor’s scheme which I believe commenced in 2023.

• The number of meals provided for each school year since its inception
• The number of children who now qualify for free school meals
• The estimated uptake of the school meals
• The cost of providing free school meals for each year since its inception
• The budgeted cost of universal free school meals each year

Response:

I can confirm that the GLA holds the information within scope of your request.

The number of meals provided for each school year since its inception

• The Mayor’s Universal Free School Meals funds 1790 state primary schools across London, reaching an estimated 287,000 children.
• Our funding assumes a 90 per cent uptake across schools, which would mean an estimated 1.4m meals are funded each week during term-time.
• Over 60m meals have been funded to date.

The number of children who now qualify for free school meals

• The Mayor’s Universal Free School Meals funds 1790 state primary schools across London, reaching an estimated 287,000 children.
• This offer is for pupils not eligible for the Government’s mean-tested FSM offer.

The estimated uptake of the school meals

• GLA sources have shown a range of take-up levels.
• The GLA collected data about meal take-up from a sample of 259 schools (13% of all London primary schools delivering UPFSM), using the management information system (MIS) Arbor. Take-up in these schools ranged between 88% and 90% across the three school terms in the 2023/2024 academic year. The average Mayor-funded FSM meal take-up in these schools was 89.1%, London-wide.
• The data show that, in the summer term of the 2023/24 academic year, average take-up was 90%. This was a marginal increase on previous terms - 88% in autumn and 89% in spring. In these schools take-up among pupils eligible for a means-tested FSM increased from 88% in 2022/23 to 94% in 2023/24 and increases were seen across all year groups.
• Alongside this, borough reported take-up rates provided to the GLA suggest take-up levels ranged from 58% to 93% across the 16 boroughs who provided figures. Take-up rates reported by the 12% of schools which claimed additional top-up funding from the GLA ranged from 91% to 100%.
• Impact on Urban Health evaluation research found that most parents surveyed said their child was eating school lunches every day (81% of parents) or most days (three to four days a week) (13% of parents). Just 7% of parents said their children ate school lunches either some days, occasionally or never.

The cost of providing free school meals for each year since its inception

The budgeted cost of universal free school meals each year

• Year one (2023/2024 academic year) - £135m plus a £5m contingency fund spread over two years.
• Year two (2024/2025 academic year) - £142m.
• Year three (2025/2026 academic year) - £147m.