Government to overhaul school food standards and expand free meal support to tackle child poverty

The UK government announces plans to update nutritional guidelines for school meals and extend free meal schemes, aiming to improve children’s health and ease financial pressures on families as the new academic year begins.

The government says it will publish updated school food standards by the end of September, in a move it says will improve the nutritional quality of meals served in schools and help families manage rising term-time costs. The changes are intended to push menus towards more fruit, vegetables and fibre, with a greater emphasis on freshly prepared dishes and less reliance on heavily processed food, according to the announcement from the Department for Education.

Ministers are pairing the nutrition plan with a wider package of support for parents as the new school year begins. The government said 1,400 new free breakfast clubs will open from September, with official figures suggesting the scheme could help more than 680,000 children and save parents up to £450 a year. The broader package also includes expanded free school meals and limits on branded uniforms, with the government saying families could save as much as £1,200 a year across the measures.

From September, more than three million children in families receiving Universal Credit are due to become eligible for free school meals, in what ministers have described as a major step in tackling child poverty. The government says the breakfast clubs are meant to give pupils a healthy start to the day, while also easing pressure on childcare and the school run.

The planned overhaul follows a consultation that opened in April and closed in June, aimed at updating the legal framework for school food to reflect current nutritional guidance. In a separate move, the government has said it will remove high-sugar and deep-fried items from school menus and bring the standards more closely in line with advice to cut foods high in fat, salt and sugar. School food campaigners have welcomed the direction of travel, and the Food Foundation has said a coalition of organisations has already raised £2.3m to help schools put the changes into practice.