The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has today joined schoolchildren in east London to celebrate the historic milestone of 100 million free school meals being served to the capital’s state primary school children, thanks to funding by City Hall.
All state primary school children in London have been offered free school meals since September 2023 after the Mayor stepped in with unprecedented funding to support the capital’s families.
The Mayor’s funding has ensured that hundreds of thousands children receive a free healthy meal at school every single day – saving families around £1,500 over three years per child, as well as improving the health and wellbeing of children and positively impacting school communities.
A total of 100 million meals have been provided in just over two school years, with each child being offered 435 free lunches in this time.
The Mayor’s intervention has ensured that every child in the capital’s state primary schools is offered a free healthy meal each day. This has been shown to improve the lives of children and their families, not only by alleviating financial pressures on households, but also by positively influencing the health and wellbeing of children and strengthening school communities.
In addition, new analysis published today shows that schools are benefiting from more than £11.5 million of additional funding from Government each year to support the education of disadvantaged pupils.
Previously schools have missed out on the Government’s pupil premium funding, which is based on free school meals eligibility, as not all eligible families were identified and supported to fill in the necessary forms.
Through the Mayor’s free school meals and income maximisation programmes, City Hall has helped boroughs simplify the process and councils are now required to have a system in place to ensure all eligible pupils are registered, securing many millions more funding across the capital.
Sadiq has made clear that funding for his historic free school meals programme will remain in place while he is Mayor and has welcomed the Government’s move to increase the nationwide entitlement to free school meals to all pupils whose household is on Universal Credit from the start of the next school year.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that 100 million meals have now been provided to children across London’s state primary schools.
I know from personal experience what a difference these meals make, so to be able to ensure that hundreds of thousands of children are receiving them across London every single day brings huge personal pride. These healthy meals are ensuring children don’t go hungry at school, making them ready to learn and giving them the energy to make the most of everything the school day offers, while also taking the financial pressure off their families.
That’s why I’ll continue to fund this unprecedented programme for as long as I am Mayor and support our next generation, as we build a fairer and better London for everyone.”
Chef and Campaigner Jamie Oliver said: “Kids in London are properly fuelled to learn, thanks to the Mayor.
“Serving 100 million free school meals is an amazing achievement.
“For families feeling the squeeze, easing financial pressure is priceless but free school meals deliver even more than that. When we feed kids well, the benefits are profound – better attendance, better grades, better jobs and over 20 years that stacks up to an extra £40 billion back into the economy.”
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