To ask the Minister of Education to detail any consideration his Department has given to extending free school meal eligibility to include all children in households in receipt of Universal Credit, in line with England.

The announcement by the Department for Education in England that it will be expanding access to free school meals to all children in families in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026 is a major policy change in England as at present families in receipt of Universal Credit would only be eligible for free school meals if they had a net household income of less than £7,400 per year. This is significantly lower than the £15,000 income threshold that currently applies in Northern Ireland.

My Department recently concluded a twelve-week public consultation exercise on the eligibility criteria for free school meals and uniform grants. The consultation modelled options including widening access to more low-income families by raising the current income threshold but did not examine the option to remove the income threshold entirely.

I intend to make my decision on the way forward in the near future. This decision will be informed by the consultation feedback, the potential impact on children and their families, schools and school caterers as well as the Department’s current significant budgetary pressures.