David Cameron has told Sky News he is “very proud” of Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) and indicated that the scheme will not be ditched in George Osborne’s spending review.
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The confirmation by a spokesperson for the Prime Minister, as reported by the BBC, breaks a long period of silence about the future of the policy after rumours of its impending demise surfaced.
The chancellor called for the cuts in July, as part of his Spending Review, due to be published in November.
The claim, made in a letter to the Sunday Times, comes amid reports the Government is considering dropping the policy, which was introduced last September by the coalition.
Current figures suggest that one in three children leave primary school overweight or obese and encouraging children to eat healthy and balanced diet has become increasing important. These include insulin resistance, hypertension, early signs of heart disease, asthma and poor mental health, risks that increase as they enter adulthood.
The Government has not confirmed if it is looking into whether to continue the scheme, which is available to all children in England in the first three years of school.
It also called for the government to do more to tackle advertising of unhealthy products, and tax sugary drinks.
“We are now going to have a spending review where obviously we have to make sure that we are delivering on our spending promises, but we are very proud of what we’ve done with free school meals”.
A Government spokesman said: “We believe that every child, regardless of their background, should have the same opportunities”.
Professor Alan Smithers, director of Buckingham University’s Center for Education and Employment Research, said that while free school meals are a good safety net, the money may be “desperately needed elsewhere” and that advocates are “overstating their case” because of other meals that a child is eating during the week.
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The free school meals budget, costing about £600 million or about $900 million each year, could be affected as it does not belong to the protected per-pupil schools budget.
