More than 1,600 Southwark children who are eligible for free school meals are not taking up the offer, new figures show.
Some 15,079 children at schools in the borough are eligible for free school meals because their families receive various kinds of benefits – but only 13,683 are known to be actually eating them – about 91 per cent.
That is a higher rate than many other London boroughs, and the capital as a whole. In Newham in east London, there are 19,197 children eligible for free school meals and only 14,509 take up the offer – about 76 per cent.
In London overall, there are 322,393 children eligible for free school meals, and just 256,421 eating them – just under eighty per cent. The figures were published by Sadiq Khan’s office in response to a question by Emma Best, a Conservative member of the London Assembly. The number of eligible taking up free school meals was calculated on census day in March 2021, so is a snapshot figure.
The low rate of take-up for free school meals may be because of the stigma – some families or children may feel embarrassed or ashamed of needing to ask for help, according to the Children’s Society charity. And some families may not even know they are eligible, research by the Child Poverty Action Group found.
All children at state schools get free meals in Reception and years 1 and 2. Southwark Council also funds every nursery and key stage 2 child to have a free ‘healthy school meal’, with low fat and sugar content and plenty of fruit and vegetables.