While free school meal entitlement is being extended, many fostered children are losing out from the removal of transitional protections for families, finds survey, however DfE rebuffs calls to extend benefit to all in care.
Half of foster carers predicted children in their care would lose entitlement to free school meals due to a policy change introduced this month, according to a survey carried out in the summer.
Some respondents said they would consequently face additional costs of more than £100 a month, forcing them to reduce spending on other essential areas, in response to the survey by The Fostering Network.
They also voiced concerns about children in their care losing out on access to holiday activities as a result of their lost free school meal (FSM) entitlement.
On the back of the findings the network and seven other sector bodies called on the government to give free school meals to all children in care in England, regardless of their foster carers’ level of income.
However, the DfE rebuffed the call, stating that FSM entitlement was based on household income and indicating that it was the role of fostering allowances to cover the costs of children’s meals.
Free school meal policy shift
In England, free school meals are available to all children in reception, year 1 and year 2, while in all other years, entitlement is means-tested, though in London it extends to all primary school pupils.
Prior to this academic year, FSM eligibility for children was based on their family’s entitlement to specified benefits; in most cases through a family being entitled to universal credit and having an income of £7,400 or less (now known as ‘targeted FSM’).
In addition, from 2018, pupils becoming eligible for FSM have retained eligibility even if their household circumstances changed to take them outside of the qualifying criteria.
From this term, FSM has been extended to children in in receipt of universal credit above the income (‘expanded FSM’), which the government has said will benefit over half a million children.
However, at the same time, it has ditched the transitional protections, meaning many children will have lost entitlement.
FSM entitlement also determines eligibility for the holiday activities and food programme (HAF), which supports children on low incomes during school holidays.
As with FSM entitlement, transitional protections have been removed for accessing HAF; however, entitlement from 2026-27 will be based on targeted, not expanded, FSM.
Foster carers say children losing meals entitlement
In its survey, The Fostering Network asked carers if any of the children they cared for would lose FSM entitlement due to the removal of transitional protections, to the best of their knowledge.
Of 713 respondents, 51.3% said children would lose FSM entitlement. The charity also found that 36.9% had children in their care who would continue to receive free school meals, while 7.2% had children who would be newly eligible, as a result of the policy changes.
The network also reported that 22% said their fostering allowance was enough to cover the cost of school meals, while 29.2% said it was not, with the rest unsure.
Foster carers receive a minimum of £176-£309 per child per week, depending on the child’s age and where they live, though many councils and independent fostering agencies (IFAs) pay more than these rates.
Impact of lost benefit on fostering households
Foster carers responding to the survey warned that the loss of FSM would put their households under increased financial strain, with some citing additional weekly costs of over £100.
Some respondents said this would affect their ability to cover expenses such as clothing or extra-curricular activities for children in their care, while others suggested it may lead to them withdrawing from fostering altogether.
Respondents also raised concerns over losing entitlement to HAF and warned that children would go without holiday activities that they enjoyed as a result.
Benefit entitlement issues
Another issue highlighted by the survey was the fact that some foster carers were ineligible for universal credit due to having savings above the current threshold of £16,000, despite their only income being from fostering.
They said that they needed these savings for their retirement or to meet the costs of caring for children.
In other cases, foster carers were ineligible for universal credit because they were over state pension age.
Call for free school meal entitlement for children in care
On the back of the research, The Fostering Network and a group of sector bodies wrote to education secretary Lucy Powell urging her to extend FSM entitlement to all children in care in England, regardless of foster carers’ income or benefits status.
The call was backed by fostering agency TACT, Adoption UK, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), good practice body CoramBAAF, carer support organisation FosterTalk, fostering campaign body Home for Good and IFA umbrella organisation the Nationwide Association of Fostering Providers.
They told Powell: “The life experiences of children in care are different to the majority of their peers. Foster carers are supporting this cohort of children to overcome trauma, neglect and poverty and consistently told us that access to school meals provides far more than nutritional support.
“It offers routine, stability, social inclusion and reassurance for children who may already be coping with significant change and uncertainty.”
“Universal entitlement would provide consistency for children, support educational participation, reduce administrative burdens and ensure that children in care are not disadvantaged compared with their peers,” they added.
DfE rebuffs calls to extend benefit
However, in response a DfE spokesperson said: “Eligibility for free school meals is based on household income, not family status.
“We know that families up and down the country are facing real financial challenges and that includes our brilliant foster families, which is why they get an allowance to help cover the cost of supporting as well as peer support networks and additional help at the local level.”
Source: Community Care
