• New entitlement to free schools meals for all children on Teesside living in a household supported by Universal Credit
• Delivers on Plan for Change to break down barriers to opportunity by driving better behaviour, attainment and wellbeing in schools while putting nearly £500 in parents’ pockets
• Labour’s historic move projected to lift 100,000 children out of poverty and support parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of Child Poverty Strategy
• Comes alongside more than £13 million to ensure food that might have been left in fields instead ends up on the plates of those who need it, including school children

Luke Myer MP supports the Labour government’s plans to deliver a free nutritious meal every school day for over half a million more children, as Labour puts £500 back into parents’ pockets every year by expanding eligibility for free school meals.

From the start of the 2026 school year, every pupil on Teesside whose household is on Universal Credit will have a new entitlement to free school meals. This will make life easier and more affordable for parents who struggle the most, delivering on Labour’s Plan for Change to break down barriers to opportunity and give children the best start in life.

This follows pilot work by both Redcar & Cleveland Council and Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke to test automatic enrolment for free school meals for eligible families. Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke described this move as “a massive success so far”, bringing in an additional £1 million for Middlesbrough schools.

Today’s unprecedented expansion will lift a further 100,000 children across England completely out of poverty. Giving children the access to a nutritious meal during the school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes – meaning they get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.

Since 2018, children have only been eligible for free school meals if their household income is less than £7,400 per year, meaning hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty has been unable to access free school meals.

Labour’s historic new expansion to those on Universal Credit will change this and comes ahead of the Child Poverty Taskforce publishing its ten-year-strategy to drive sustainable change later this year. It comes on top of targeted support for families being hit the hardest with the cost-of-living crisis, with urgent action including raising the national minimum wage, uprating benefits and supporting 700,000 families through the Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

“Working parents across the country are working tirelessly to provide for their families but are being held back by cost-of-living pressures.

“My government is taking action to ease those pressures. Feeding more children every day, for free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents’ pockets, tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn.

“This expansion is a truly historic moment for our country, helping families who need it most and delivering our Plan for Change to give every child, no matter their background, the same chance to succeed.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

“It is the moral mission of this government to tackle the stain of child poverty, and today this government takes a giant step towards ending it with targeted support that puts money back in parents’ pockets.

“From free school meals to free breakfast clubs, breaking the cycle of child poverty is at the heart of our Plan for Change to cut the unfair link between background and success.

“We believe that background shouldn’t mean destiny. Today’s historic step will help us to deliver excellence everywhere, for every child and give more young people the chance to get on in life.”

Luke Myer, MP for Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, said:

“I know from my time as a teacher, as Cabinet Member for Children in Redcar & Cleveland and now as MP how much child poverty has impacted local families. That’s why I support this decisive and much-needed action to expand entitlement for free school meals, lifting children across Teesside out of poverty and putting money back in parents’ pockets.

“Children across our area deserve the best start in life, and I’m proud that Labour is delivering this through the Plan for Change. There is more to do – and I hope the Child Poverty Taskforce goes even further, for example by scrapping the two-child cap. But this is a fantastic move which will make a big difference.”

To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, Labour is also acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.

This new entitlement will apply to children in all settings where free school meals are currently delivered, including schools, school-based nurseries and Further Education settings. We expect the majority of schools will allow parents to apply before the start of the school year 2026, by providing their National Insurance Number to check their eligibility.

Schools and local authorities will continue to receive pupil premium and home to school transport extended rights funding based on the existing free school meals threshold.

This is just the latest step in Labour’s Plan for Change to break the unfair link between background and opportunity, including rolling out free breakfast clubs, expanding government-funded childcare to 30 hours a week for working parents and commitment to cap the number of branded school uniform items.

From April 2026 until the end of parliament, millions of households are set to receive a permanent yearly above inflation boost to Universal Credit. The increase, a key element of the Government’s welfare reforms to be laid before Parliament, will tackle the destitution caused by years of inaction that has left the value of the standard allowance at a 40 year low by the early 2020s.