Full Breakdown
Push for Universal Free School Meals Intensifies Across England
By Drooid · · How we work
Commission Calls for Universal Free School Meals Up to Age 18
The Hunger Commission — chaired by Barrie Margetts — recommends that the UK government make free school meals universal for all children up to age 18. Its recommendations also include creating a Cost of Living Unit within the Prime Minister’s office and introducing a “Right to Food Bill” to enshrine a legal entitlement to adequate nutrition.
Background and Context
Food insecurity has risen sharply since the cost-of-living surge that began in 2022. The government expanded free-school-meal eligibility in June 2025 to include children whose parents receive Universal Credit, but the policy remains limited to Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils in England. Faith groups, teachers’ unions and civil-society organisations have mobilised around the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, urging a broader, universal approach.
Data and Statistics
- 14 million people in the UK lack certainty about their next meal.
- 700 children are hospitalized each year for malnutrition-related conditions such as rickets or scurvy.
- ONS reports a 30.1 % rise in food prices between April 2022 and July 2026.
- A YouGov poll for the National Education Union found 31 % of parents had reduced the quantity or variety of food purchased due to financial pressure.
- Amnesty International polling indicated 75 % of respondents worried about food costs in the past year, while 82 % supported a legal right to food.
- Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, notes that one in five schools in England now operate food banks.
Official Statements & Responses
The Commission urges immediate relief measures, including universal free meals and holiday food provision, followed by legislation to secure a right to food. It also recommends reforming capital-gains tax to match income-tax rates, projecting that the change could generate the £7.8 billion needed to fund vulnerable families.
Daniel Kebede emphasizes that teachers are collaborating with parents and civil society to secure universal provision, noting the detrimental impact of hunger on learning outcomes.
Verbatim Quotes
- “The biggest example of the broken system Prime Minister Andy Burnham has rightly diagnosed is that in the sixth wealthiest country in the world we have 14 million people not knowing where their next meal is coming from.” — Chair
- “We have heard harrowing evidence about the effect food insecurity is having on children. It is distressing, heartbreaking and utterly avoidable.” — Mr Byrne
- “The Bishop of Warrington, the Right Reverend Simon Robinson, said: "Child hunger is a moral stain on our country.” — The Bishop
What’s Next
The report calls for the Cost of Living Unit and the drafting of a Right to Food Bill, and recommends funding the universal free-school-meal scheme through tax reforms, with a projected need of £7.8 billion. Faith leaders and the National Education Union have pledged continued advocacy, planning further actions during the Labour Party Conference and beyond.