London needs long-term solution to fix food insecurity

The Mayor should provide more information about how he will implement his free school meals initiative, including how he will support schools to expand their provision, according to a report by the London Assembly Economy Committee.

In February 2023, the Mayor announced that he would provide £130m in funding to ensure all primary school children in London receive free school meals during the 2023-24 academic year.

The Economy Committee welcomes the Mayor’s announcement as a way of addressing child food insecurity, but warns it is important that there is a long-term solution to the problem as well as a short-term fix.

It is now calling on the Mayor to provide a further update on this work at the start of the 2023-24 academic year, for regular updates throughout the year, and to explain why the decision was taken to prioritise primary schools over secondary schools.

In a year that saw food prices rise at the fastest rate since the 1970s, the Economy Committee launched an investigation into food insecurity in London, aiming to understand the scale, causes and potential solutions to the problem.

It has today published a report with 13 recommendations to the Mayor and government on how to alleviate food insecurity in London. These include:

• The Mayor should provide further information and transparency to the Committee about how he will implement his programme of free school meal provision, including how he will support schools to expand their provision.
• The government should restore the £20 per week uplift of Universal Credit, which will help to address food insecurity levels among the poorest households in London ^[1].
• The Mayor should encourage all local authorities in London to expand the provision of free school meals once his own funding comes to an end.
• The government should introduce automatic enrolment for free school meals and the Healthy Start scheme using social security records, to ensure that all eligible children receive free school meals.

Hina Bokhari AM, Chair of the Economy Committee, said:

“Food insecurity is not a new phenomenon for households on low incomes, but the current cost of living emergency is making this situation much worse for many Londoners.

“The provision of free school meals is vital to alleviating food insecurity among children from low-income households and we welcome the Mayor’s free schools meals announcement.

“However, he said this was a ‘one-off proposal’, and we need a long-term solution. That is why we are urging the Mayor to provide further information on the scheme and for detailed costings.

“We are also urging the government to restore the £20 per week uplift of Universal Credit, to address food insecurity levels among the poorest households in London.”