Petition · past parliament
Address the shortfall in the payment allocated to schools for free school meals.
Closed
76 signatures
What the petition asks
The amount paid to cover the cost of free meals is too low. We call for government to fund free school meals properly to ensure that our vulnerable pupils get a good meal without depriving them and their peers of other resources and staffing as schools stretch their budgets to cover the shortfall.
School caterers have increased prices to cover rising costs. A meal in East Sussex now costs £2.85, but we get £2.53 per meal to cover the cost.
Schools have to cover the shortfall from already stretched budgets. If government claims to provide free meals, they need to cover the cost.
At my school (where 16% of pupils are entitled to FSM: National average for ‘22-23 was 23.8%), we already have over £10,000 shortfall which will have to come out of our budget: more deprived areas will be worse.
Schools have to cover the shortfall from already stretched budgets. If government claims to provide free meals, they need to cover the cost.
At my school (where 16% of pupils are entitled to FSM: National average for ‘22-23 was 23.8%), we already have over £10,000 shortfall which will have to come out of our budget: more deprived areas will be worse.
Timeline
| 13 Mar 2024 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 29 May 2024 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
76
Status
Closed
Opened
13 Mar 2024
Closed
29 May 2024
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.