More than a meal

The announcement in 2023 of a new policy to provide free school meals to every primary aged child in state-funded schools in London was a significant milestone in school food policy in England. It meant that an additional 270,000 children across London were newly entitled.

To document learnings from the roll-out of the policy, Impact on Urban Health commissioned two evaluations:

• a lived experience evaluation, carried out by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in partnership with Reconnect London. This study gathered the reflections and experiences of children, families and schools. It focused on how the policy affects household finances, food security, family health and wellbeing outcomes and school life, from family and school perspectives.
• an implementation evaluation, conducted by ICF in partnership with Public Health Nutrition Research. This study collected data from schools, local authorities and caterers to identify and understand what helped them to implement the policy effectively and the barriers they faced.

Findings from the two evaluations are combined in this report, and form the basis of our seven key recommendations for national policymakers.

Family finances are improved as a result of the policy:

• 84% of parents and carers surveyed across the income spectrum said the availability of universal primary free school meals helped or significantly helped household finances.
• Many families did point out that the financial benefits they initially felt had been offset by the continuing rising costs of essentials like housing, energy and food.
• Families living on low incomes are benefiting the most from the additional financial support, with parents in receipt of Universal Credit more likely to say the policy was ‘significantly helping’ household finances (52% compared to 31% not receiving Universal Credit).

The policy has a positive effect on physical and mental health and wellbeing:

• By easing the pressure on family finances, the policy has reduced the emotional burden on parents, benefiting their mental health.
• 45% of parents surveyed said they now worry less about passing on their financial concerns to their children.
• Our research also shows that when money is freed up elsewhere parents can invest in their family’s health through ‘better’ food at home.
• More children are now trying and enjoying new foods at school; more than half (55%) of all parents who completed the survey thought their child was trying new foods because of the policy. This percentage increased for families in receipt of Universal Credit (63%).

The policy plays a key role in strengthening school communities:

• Providing a free meal at lunchtime has influenced key dynamics that determine how enjoyable and productive the school day is for pupils, and how effectively vital home-school relationships function.
• More than a third (33%) of parents felt that access to a filling, healthy lunch means their children can concentrate better in lessons.
• The policy has also prompted a welcome reset on dinner money payments, previously a challenging issue for school communities.

The GLA played a key role in supporting schools and boroughs to implement the policy:

• The GLA was able to guide and support boroughs and schools to successfully deliver the policy, despite the complexity of the school food system and challenging timeframe.
• The evaluation found the quality of relationships between London boroughs and schools, and the effectiveness of communication, were key determining factors.

Funding for the policy removed a significant cost barrier for schools, but challenges across a complex school food system can affect implementation:

• The evaluations found London’s schools, boroughs and catering providers demonstrated a strong will and enthusiasm to get the policy up and running.
• Schools’ resilience and flexibility were key to the implementation of UPFSM.
• Where there were strong relationships between catering teams, SLT members and the school community, implementation of the policy was more effective, and menus were more popular with children.

More needs to be done to ensure equitable access to FSM for all children and families with some protected characteristics:

• Though more children now have access to free school meals, too many are still missing out on good, filling and varied school lunches.
• Schools are not always able to adequately cater for pupils with medical, cultural and religious food requirements.
• This means some groups of children and families, often the most marginalised, cannot yet experience the full benefits of the policy or have missed out altogether.

1. Urgently extend access to free school meals and work towards a universal approach to school food
2. Introduce nationally coordinated auto-enrolment for free school meals
3. Increase the per meal funding rate and make funding allocations simpler
4. Wipe out dinner money debt
5. Ensure sufficient capital investment in school kitchen and dining infrastructure
6. Introduce a national School Food Quality Assurance Scheme (and update the School Food Standards)
7. Train and support school leaders, caterers and business managers to deliver great school food

“When I joined this school, I wanted to bring my own packed lunches as I didn’t like any of the foods. I’m glad I stuck with it because now I like the meals.” – Year 4 pupil