Clarification on transitional protection for free school meals

The request was successful.

Glenys Harriman

Dear Department for Education,
“The gov.uk website on Applying for free school meals - https://www.gov.uk/apply-freeschool-meals says:
"If your child is eligible for free school meals, they’ll remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they’re in on 31 March 2023. "
So this is talking about now, ie before the full UC rollout.
Whereas gov.uk's free School Meals guidance - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk... _data/file/700139/Free_school_meals_guidance_Apr18.pdf says that this applies once UC is fully rolled out:
" Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out, any existing pupil who no longer meets the eligibility criteria at that point will continue to receive free school meals until the end of their current phase of education, i.e. primary or secondary. "
and in reference to before fully rolled out says:
"During the rollout of Universal Credit, protection arrangements mean that no further eligibility checks will be required. Schools should continue to record pupils claiming free school meals – including those being transitionally protected – as eligible for free school meals on the termly school census, as they do now. We will keep this process under review. "
So if no further eligibility checks are required this sounds like during the current phase the FSMs can continue even if the child enters a new education level.

Please could you supply the most recent document that clarifies a) whether the protection to the end of current phase of education applies now, or only once fully rolled out, or both, and b) whether before roll out FSMs continue into the next phase of education.

Thank you

Yours faithfully,

Glenys Harriman

MINISTERS, Department for Education

1 Attachment

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education.

 

Exam Results

 

If your enquiry is about 2021 exam results, we will endeavour to get a
response to you as soon as possible.

 

If your enquiry is related to exam appeals or priority appeals, we
recommend that students should discuss the appeals process with their
school or college in the first instance. JCQ have also published a student
guide to appeals which can be found here:
[1]https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/upload....
If a student wishes to appeal a VTQ result they should refer to the
guidance on their specific Awarding Organisation’s website.

 

Students can also contact the National Careers Service helpline for advice
and support regarding their results, including for advice on appeals, on
0800 100 900. 

 

 

Other enquiries

 

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education. If you are
contacting us about coronavirus (COVID-19) you can find advice and
guidance on [2]GOV.UK. This includes [3]guidance for educational settings
in England. You can also contact our coronavirus helpline on 0800 046
8687. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and weekends 10am to
4pm.

For emails and other written enquiries you will usually receive a reply
within 15 working days. You can find out how the department processes your
personal information by reading our [4]Privacy Notice.

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/upload...
2. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
4. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear  Glenys Harriman 

Thank you for your recent enquiry which was received on 12 May.

A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible. For information; the
departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses should
be sent within 20 working days as you are requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your correspondence has been allocated
reference number 2022-0018082. 

Department for Education

Ministerial and Public Communications Division

Tel: 0370 000 2288

Web: [1]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [2]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
Facebook: [3]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.education.gov.uk/
2. https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
3. https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear Glenys,
I apologise for the delay in issuing you with a response.
When we introduced the new free school meals eligibility criteria in April
2018 we introduced transitional protections that would apply during the
universal credit roll out period to ensure that no child would lose their
eligibility to free school meals. These protections were enacted in our
Commencement Order with the end date of March 2022, the date the rollout
was then due to end. 
 
When the end date moved to March 2023 we confirmed that we had extended
the end date of the protections to match this. Whilst the rollout is in
progress we will continue to keep this under review and will make any
necessary changes ahead of March 2023.  

As per [1]DfE’s guidance, protections work in the following way:

• Any pupil who is in receipt of free school meals immediately prior to
1 April 2018 will continue to receive free school meals whilst
Universal Credit is rolled out. This applies even if they no longer
meet the eligibility criteria during that time.
• Any pupil who gains eligibility for free school meals after 1 April
2018 will continue to receive free school meals during the Universal
Credit rollout period. This applies even if they no longer meet the
eligibility criteria at a subsequent point during the rollout period.
• Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out, any existing pupil who no
longer meets the eligibility criteria at that point will continue to
receive free school meals until the end of their current phase of
education, i.e. primary or secondary.

Children in receipt of FSM who move schools before the protections
end-date should continue to receive FSM. 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...