Children entitled to free school meals losing £65m a year as providers keep change, says charity

Unused change being deducted by school meal providers, ‘stifling’ poorer pupils and depriving them of money that ‘belongs to them’, says Citizens UK

Children who receive free school meals told the charity they felt they were “treated differently” because they are unable to use their lunchtime allowance to, for example, buy food for breakfast the next morning (Getty)

Children entitled to free school meals are losing £65m a year because meal providers are retaining their unused change, campaigners have claimed.

Charity Citizens UK said the practice of unused change being deducted and retained by private companies, schools and local authorities who provide the meals was “stifling” poorer pupils and depriving them of money that “belongs to them”.

Children who receive free school meals told the charity they felt they were “treated differently” because they were unable to use their lunchtime allowance to, for example, buy food for breakfast the next morning.

Some 750,000 secondary school pupils are thought to be affected by this issue, and are collectively losing out on about £65m, said Citizens UK.

Maura Regan, chief executive of the Carmel College Trust, which has changed the free school meals system in all three of its schools, said: “In truth we were blissfully ignorant of what was an unintended consequence [of the system].

“Because of that, I felt there was a moral imperative to act. It appeared that we were supporting pupils on free school meals, but in reality, we were stifling them and creating difficulties. Once you become aware of something like that it has to become a catalyst for change.”

Ms Regan estimated that one low-cost alteration to her schools’ IT system has given back around £17,000 to pupils. She added: “The bottom line is quite simply that the money wasn’t ours. The money belongs to the children.”

One child affected, a Year 8 pupil campaigning on the issue from Kenton School, said: “This campaign is important to us because it allows us to express how we [pupils on free school meals] are being treated differently to people who pay for their school meals.

“Some of our friends said that if they could keep the change they would buy extra food for the mornings for example, if they can’t get breakfast at home. But because they can’t keep the change they can never do that.”

Luke Bramhall, from the charity Children North East, said it was a “national issue”, adding: “Across the country we are told about how the money allocated to children on free school meals is taken off them at the end of the day, and that children are going without as a result.”

The government has been approached for comment.