Celebrities calling for action as Nottinghamshire becomes latest council to reject universal free school meals
More than 50 thousand children live in poverty - across Nottinghamshire
Last updated 2nd Oct 2023
Kate Winslet, Olivia Colman, Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran are among a list of celebrities urging the Prime Minister to make schools meals free to all primary school kids.
Led by the National Education Union, the letter explains child hunger is an "epidemic", claiming four million children faced food insecurity last year, with some having to skip meals entirely.
Adding his signature to the letter is comedian James Acaster, said: "The time I spent in school taught me it's a pretty terrible idea trying to teach kids who haven't had a decent lunch.
"I'm supporting the No Child Left Behind campaign because every child should have a hot, healthy school dinner, every day."
Other famous faces adding their names to the call include The Thick Of It writer Armando Iannucci, Succession actor Brian Cox, musician Jessie Ware and chef Yotam Ottolenghi.
What's the government's response?
A spokesperson said: "Over a third of pupils in England now receive free school meals in education settings, compared with one in six in 2010, and we have extended eligibility several times to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century.
"This includes introducing new eligibility criteria for families receiving Universal Credit, to ensure even more children were eligible for a free school meal.
"We're providing record financial support worth an average £3,300 per household. We have also raised benefits in line with inflation, increased the National Living Wage and are helping households with food, energy and other essential costs."
Can local councils go against the government?
In most cases, prices of school meals are set by County Councils.
Recently, Derbyshire County have raised the price of school lunches by 40% to cover increasing supply costs- a move that has been criticised widely by parents, schools and politicians such as Erewash MP Maggie Throup.
In contrast, Scotland and Wales - as well as London - have extended free school meals to all pupils.
Nottinghamshire County Councillors have been discussing whether the country should join them.
However, the idea of a consultation into universal free school meals was rejected in a recent vote.
The council motion came amid concerns about rising child poverty as separate figures suggested 52,029 children were living in poverty countywide last year.
Latest council figures show 26,669 local school-aged children were eligible and claiming free meals in May 2023.
The figures, from the End Child Poverty Coalition campaign, followed stories of some children “eating food from bins at school or even resorting to eating glue”.
Universal Free school meals thrown out by Nottinghamshire Councillors
The motion was proposed by Cllr Francis Purdue-Horan (Ind) and backedby Labour.
It asked the e Conservative-led council to explore taking further action.
In the meeting, Cllr Purdue-Horan said: “There are thousands of children living in poverty but not eligible for free school meals.
“A primary headteacher told us they have an awful situation where children are turning up and begging for food at their breakfast club.
“Others turn up with no packed lunch and this leaves catering staff with heartbreaking situations of either turning them away or feeding them anyway, which is financially untenable.
“A move to universal free school meals would be a massive benefit to our young students.”
Cllr Ben Bradley MP (Con), the council’s leader, MP for Mansfield and East Midlands Mayoral candidate said the scheme it would cost between £13m and £21m locally.
He also said some Nottinghamshire pupils “largely don’t need” free school meals and taxpayers would not benefit from providing them with free food.
He said: "This council will always focus its resources on those people who genuinely need our help, rather than those who are already managing fine.”
The motion was narrowly defeated by 30 votes to 26.