‘Why I’m calling for universal free school meals for all children across England’

I’ve worked as a local GP in Stroud for 30 years. In that time, I’ve seen the lifelong harm poor diet and nutrition can do. With the country facing mounting health challenges, it’s on us now to make sure the Government does its bit to deliver a healthier Britain. 

Given what this Government has already set out – like free breakfast clubs for all primary school children – I’m hopeful. But I’m also seriously concerned about the state of children’s health in our nation. 

Last year, as the cost of living crisis ground on, school nurses warned that children were suffering shocking levels of tooth decay and stunted growth as the cost of food continued to soar.

Poor diet and a lack of access to good food has also been fuelling obesity for years, left unchecked by a dysfunctional Conservative government that failed to deliver on its promises. After 14 years of Tory rule, British five-year-olds are quite literally shorter than their European peers due to poor nutrition and cuts to the NHS.

Now alongside classroom hunger, we face a situation where some ten percent of children entering Reception are obese, and by Year 6 22 percent of children are obese.

READ MORE: Sadiq Khan – ‘Labour is at its best when it embraces universalism in government’

‘Universal free school meals would help level the playing field’

School breakfast clubs, with a focus on good nutrition, can reverse this trend and help children to live happy, healthy lives. That’s why I’m delighted to see free breakfast clubs in primary school as a cornerstone of Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson’s new Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. 

But a healthy school day doesn’t stop with breakfast.

Fewer than two percent of packed lunches meet nutritional standards. For too many families, a hot healthy lunch at school is unaffordable. Parents try their best but whether for time or money, it’s virtually impossible to pull off the perfect packed lunch every day. 

This is why I have laid an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill seeking to extend universal free school meals to every child in a primary state school. I’m working with a growing group of MPs and the National Education Union’s campaign for Free School Meals for All to encourage ministers to take this forward as part of official Government policy. More than 25 MPs have added their name to my amendment.

Starting this week with 26 MPs now backing Dr Simon Opher MP’s amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing Bill 👏👏👏

The amendment is calling for #FreeSchoolMealsForAll and would guarantee a hot midday meal for every primary school pupil, every day.

👀 Is your MP on the list?

— No Child Left Behind (@NoChildBehindUK) January 20, 2025

Doing so would be such a positive step and in keeping with our aspirations as a Government and Labour movement. All the evidence suggests there is a significant gap in healthy diet and outcomes for those children who are unable to access a hot, healthy meal at lunchtime and the poorest households miss out the most. The advantage of lunch is that it can reach every pupil in school that day, truly levelling the playing field.

READ MORE: ‘Why would any MP think moving Reeves on means swift economic happiness?’

‘Labour are spearheading change in school food’

The Nuffield Foundation studied the early adopter schools in London who have been delivering the policy for the last decade and found children make approximately two weeks additional progress in reading by the end of primary school. Obesity is reduced across the year groups, by as much as 11 percent.

Labour are spearheading the change in school food. In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan has taken the bold step of universalising provision for primary school pupils in the capital. It has proved very popular. 88 percent of parents outside London want to see this rolled out where they live.

An independent evaluation of the London scheme has found that more than half of parents feel their child is trying new foods because of the policy. 84 percent of parents and carers across the income spectrum say the scheme is easing the pressure on household finances. Where money is freed up, parents can “invest in their family’s health through ‘better’ food at home”.

Key findings:

➕ Positive effect on health and wellbeing
💰 Improved family finances
🤝 Strengthened school communities
🟰 More to do to ensure equitable access to FSM for all pic.twitter.com/1ICFYvEGqQ

— Impact on Urban Health (@ImpUrbanHealth) November 19, 2024

In 2024, the Welsh Labour Government completed its roll out of universal school dinners to all primary school pupils – welcomed widely by the nation’s public health authorities for forming healthy eating habits early and reducing health inequalities. 

It’s all about priorities: Labour leaders in London and Wales have made free healthy dinners for all children in primary school, and the UK Government could, and should, do the same for children across England.

When you translate the benefits of the policy into economic terms, as PwC has done with Impact on Urban Health this translates into a gain of £1.71 for every £1 spent.

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We already have universal Free School Meals in England in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 of primary school. The Conservatives failed to complete the roll-out. There is no basis to stop this provision at Year 3 if we are serious about children’s health and learning. 

We have the opportunity as Labour to see this through – to be the party that delivers this for children and families and makes a tangible, immediate change in their lives in our first year of government. 

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