Tesco boss: Free school meals scheme should be extended

2022-12-11

‘It would be really good value for money’: Free school meals scheme should be extended ‘significantly’ to help children through cost of living crisis, Tesco boss says

Tesco chairman is calling for a ‘very significant extension’ of free school meals
For free school meals in England, a child’s household must have net earnings below £7,400 excluding benefits
Daily Mail investigation shows 800,000 children are being denied free meals
They face spending their days at school hungry and unable to concentrate

The chairman of Tesco has called for a ‘very significant extension’ of free school meals for thousands of children facing hunger in the cost of living crisis.

John Allan said expanding the scheme would be ‘really good value for money’.

He added that Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, is seeing more customers pay in cash to keep on top of their spending as housing and energy costs rise, and food price inflation has hit its highest level in 45 years.

It follows a Daily Mail investigation showing 800,000 children from poor families are being denied free meals and face spending their days at school hungry and therefore unable to concentrate.

For free school meals in England, a child’s household must have net earnings below £7,400, not including benefits

Mr Allan said: ‘I think a very significant extension of free school meals will be one of the most cost-effective things the Government could do and I’d love to see them doing that. It would be tremendously helpful and really good value for money. For schools it’s relatively inexpensive and the notion that kids go to school hungry and then are impacted by the fact that they don’t have a meal at lunchtime because their families can’t afford it is dreadful.’

Public figures including celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and England footballer Marcus Rashford have already urged ministers to extend the scheme.

For free school meals in England, a child’s household must have net earnings below £7,400, not including benefits.

In June this year, 1.9million pupils – just over a fifth of the total – were on free school meals. But there are 800,000 other children in poverty who miss this threshold.

The chairman of Tesco has called for a ‘very significant extension’ of free school meals for thousands of children facing hunger in the cost of living crisis. John Allan said expanding the scheme would be ‘really good value for money’

The income cap is £7,290 in Scotland. England’s £7,400 limit has been frozen since 2018 – if it rose in line with inflation, it would be £8,575, making 110,000 more children eligible. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was criticised by charities for ignoring pressure to expand the programme in his autumn financial statement. A poll of cross-party MPs found two-thirds backed extending the scheme.

Mr Allan said: ‘I visited some stores this last week and was told more and more people are paying in cash because they’re trying to limit their spending to what they can afford. I don’t see these problems diminishing in 2023.’

In October Tesco, which is worth £17billion, announced a £1million donation to food banks and charities the Trussell Trust and FareShare. Mr Allan added: ‘Tesco and our competitors are all trying to hold prices down as much as we can. We’re doing all we can, but I don’t think it’s enough.’

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