Call for targeted free school meals

CLAIM MOVE WOULD HELP TACKLE UK CHILD POVERTY

UNIVERSAL free school meals should be rolled out in areas of the country serving the most disadvantaged young people, a former children's commissioner has said.

Anne Longfield said schools should no longer have to use "sticking plaster solutions" to tackle child poverty as she called for greater investment.

The report from her Centre for Young Lives think tank, in partnership with the Child of the North, contains a series of recommendations on how to reduce the impact of child poverty on millions of children.

It calls for universal free school meals (FSM) to be initially "targeted" at schools in boroughs and wards with the most disadvantaged populations.

Children in state schools in England are currently only entitled to receive FSM if a parent or carer receives one of a number of benefits.