Here is some important information for parents of children receiving free school meals, during the forthcoming roll-out of Universal Credit, from the Govt’s guidance to Local Authorities:

‘Due to the roll-out of Universal Credit, we introduced an income-based threshold for free school meal eligibility. As a result of this change to the benefit system and free school meal eligibility, the number of pupils eligible for free school meals will increase. Part of this increase will be because of the transitional protections we have put in place, which mean that pupils who were eligible for free school meals1 on 1 April 2018, and those who become eligible during the Universal Credit rollout period, will retain eligibility until the end of this rollout period. For those still in education at this point, protections will continue until the end of their current phase of education; this covers until at least summer 2023. This means that schools should not remove free school meals eligibility for pupils over this period, unless the pupil’s parent requests that they do so.’

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or issues. We are expecting there will be some problems with the rollout generally, as in other areas.

Regards

Cllr Craig Hannaway