To ask the Minister of Education (i) whether the School Holiday Food Grant will be available for children over the autumn mid-term and Christmas breaks; and (ii) to detail what steps have been taken to extend free school meals provision to all nursery and primary school pupils.

I announced on 20 October that I have decided to extend the School Holiday Food Grant to cover the Halloween 2022, Christmas 2022 and February half term 2023 school holiday periods.

This will provide financial assistance to families whose children are entitled to free school meals with families receiving £13.50 per week for each entitled child.

The Department is continuing to progress a review of Free School Meals and Uniform Grant eligibility criteria. The review is considering a wide range of options that include the provision of a universal free school meal for some/all year groups as well as raising the current income thresholds that apply to the eligibility criteria for applicants in receipt of Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit. It is planned that a public consultation will commence later this year.