{"value":{"id":1746928,"askingMemberId":5359,"askingMember":null,"house":"Commons","memberHasInterest":false,"dateTabled":"2024-12-04T00:00:00","dateForAnswer":"2024-12-06T00:00:00","uin":"18085","questionText":"To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to increase funding for (a) universal infant free school meals and (b) benefitted free school meals.","answeringBodyId":60,"answeringBodyName":"Department for Education","isWithdrawn":false,"isNamedDay":false,"groupedQuestions":[],"answerIsHolding":false,"answerIsCorrection":false,"answeringMemberId":4653,"answeringMember":null,"correctingMemberId":null,"correctingMember":null,"dateAnswered":"2024-12-19T00:00:00","answerText":"<p>An uplift to the per-meal rate for universal infant free school meals and further education free meals was announced on 4 December 2024. The uplifted meal rate will be increased from £2.53 to £2.58 for 2024 to 2025, backdated to the start of the academic year.</p><p>To support the provision of benefits-related free school meals (FSM), the government provides funding at £490 per eligible FSM pupil per year as a factor value within the national funding formula. This value will be increasing to £495 per eligible FSM pupil in 2025/26.</p>","originalAnswerText":"","comparableAnswerText":"","dateAnswerCorrected":null,"dateHoldingAnswer":null,"attachmentCount":0,"heading":"Free School Meals: Finance","attachments":[],"groupedQuestionsDates":[]},"links":[{"rel":"self","href":"/Questions/1746928","method":"GET"}]}