Labour’s free school meals plan will cost £950 million

Extending free school meals to all primary school children would cost around £950 million each year, a think tank says.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), Labour’s plan to provide every child with free school meals would come at a “significant cost” and might not improve pupil outcomes.

The institute says that “while there is some evidence it might raise attainment overall, we don't understand how or why, and so the effect of extending this nationwide is uncertain”.

The IFS believe, however, that other policies such as free breakfast clubs “might be a cheaper and more effective way to improve both education and health outcomes”.

This follows IFS research which found that support for a one-year breakfast programme in disadvantaged schools delivered similar academic benefits to universal free school meal provision (though the gains were higher in Year 2 than Year 6).

The breakfast clubs also significantly improved behaviour and concentration, and reduced absences – and did so at around one-tenth of the cost per pupil of universal free school meals.