Rachel Reeves announces £315m free breakfast club programme to start in primary schools…

September 23, 2024, 6:41 PM

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that hundreds of primary schools will benefit from free breakfast clubs from next year.

Ms Reeves said the Government was “investing in reducing child poverty” and confirmed a £315 million pilot of a free breakfast club scheme would start in April.

Hundreds of primary schools will be given the opportunity to take part in the first phase, before the programme is implemented nationwide.

Speaking at the Labour Party conference, the Chancellor said the pilot would be rolled out in 750 primary schools in England.

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“I will judge my time in office to have been a success if I know that at the end of it there will be working-class children from average backgrounds who will have had richer lives, their horizons will have broadened and they will be able to achieve and succeed in today’s Britain,” Ms Reeves said.

“As a first step, we will take the first steps towards delivering on another manifesto commitment, our promise, under the leadership of our Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, to introduce free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England.

“Today I can announce that this will start in hundreds of schools for primary school age children from April ahead of a national rollout, an investment in our young people, an investment in reducing child poverty, an investment in our economy.”

National Union of Teachers (NEU) General Secretary Daniel Kebede said: “We are pleased that Labour has recognised the seriousness of the problem of child hunger and its impact on child education, and the importance of universal, rather than means-tested, access to education.

“Breakfast clubs are a good step forward, provided they are fully funded, but Labour needs to be more courageous.

“The NEU calls on the Government to take urgent action to eliminate the spectre of child hunger in our schools by providing free school meals to all primary school children.

“A hot, nutritious school lunch every day will help millions of children whose families face the impossible choice of paying their bills or staying fed during the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, and it will remove any stereotypes about the extra support that is so desperately needed.

“We must ensure that no child is too hungry to learn.”

Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, said the announcement was “an important step forward in the fight against child hunger”.

“We are delighted to announce this money will help kick-start breakfast clubs in primary schools and make a real difference to the lives of all children,” he said.

“There is no denying that schools are working hard to mitigate the effects of rising levels of child poverty resulting from the worst cost of living crisis in half a century.

“We know that when children are not hungry, their attendance, behavior and ability to learn are improved.

“This announcement is an important step forward in the fight against childhood hunger, which negatively impacts education.

“We want to see a future where no child goes hungry, where all children are ready to learn and where schools are fully supported to provide children with the best education.”