Hundreds of children across Bedford Borough who are entitled to free school meals are missing out on vital support, with new figures revealing that 865 eligible pupils are not currently receiving the help they should be getting.
The issue was raised at last night’s Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee (6 January), where Chris Morris, service director for education, SEND and school infrastructure, said the shortfall had been identified through a data-matching exercise.
Mr Morris added that the National Insurance only method has “so many flaws,” particularly for families who may not understand the process or face barriers to applying.
Including families where English is an additional language, as well as households concerned about the stigma attached to free school meals.
Referring to a data-matching exercise trialled in Sheffield, Mr Morris said the council held information on services such as council tax relief and the benefits families are on.
“We identified all people on eligible benefits, all children who are in those families and ran them through [to get] NI [National Insurance] matching information,” he said.
“The upshot of that is we found 865 children who were not currently receiving free school meals who were eligible.”
The council also expects eligibility to widen further following the government’s decision to link free school meal entitlement to Universal Credit.
Mr Morris said this would benefit working families who may not previously have qualified but are still struggling with rising living costs.
More information on free school meals auto-enrolment can be found on the council’s website.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
