MAYOR Sadiq Khan says the scheme to provide free school meals for all primary school children in London should be extended nationwide.
The one-off £130 million programme, which comes into effect from September, is an effort to help struggling households amid the cost-of-living crisis. Funded by additional business rates income, it is estimated the move will help around 270,000 primary school pupils and save families in London around £440 per child across the year.
It marks a major victory for the Standard's School Hunger Special Investigation, which highlighted the plight of the 210,000 primary and secondary pupils in London who live in homes on universal credit but miss out on free school meals.
Mr Khan told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is personal to me. I benefited from free school meals as a child. My mum and dad worked incredibly hard but to help make sure they could pay the bills, as a lifeline to them, to give them more space to breathe financially, free school meals helped me and my brothers and sister."
He said it was important for the scheme to be universal to eradicate any stigma around receiving free school meals.
この記事は Evening Standard の February 20, 2023 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は Evening Standard の February 20, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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