More Cumbrian pupils are receiving free school meals than ever before, new figures show.
Department for Education figures show 11,635 children in Cumbria were eligible for free school meals in January – 16.5 per cent of all state school pupils in the area.
This was up from 15.2 per cent the year before, and the highest proportion since comparable records began in 2015-16.
In pupil referral units, the rate was 43.6 per cent in 2021-22 – the highest of all types of state education which had at least 100 pupils.
This was compared to five per cent in nursery schools.
Across England, 22.5 per cent of pupils (around 1.9 million children) are currently eligible for free school meals – up from 20.8 per cent, and also a record high.
This varied between just nine per cent in Wokingham, in the South East, but rose as high as 41.1 per cent in Islington, in London.
In a debate in Parliament yesterday, July 12, the Labour Party called for the scheme to be extended to all children in families receiving Universal Credit or equivalent benefits.
Labour’s shadow schools minister Stephen Morgan said: “While the Conservatives are distracted by fighting amongst themselves, the perfect storm of soaring food costs, Tory tax hikes and inadequate funding continue to take their toll on families and deepen existing inequalities.”
New research conducted by Loughborough University on behalf of the End Child Poverty Coalition reveals 29 per cent of English children were living in relative poverty in 2020-21, though this was down from 30 per cent the year before and first fall in a decade.
The ECPC said it was likely due to Government measures during the pandemic, such as temporarily increasing Universal Credit by £20 a week.
The DfE figures also show that white pupils with Traveller or Irish heritage ethnicity were the most likely to get free school meals across England – 63 of all of those in state schools.
In Cumbria, the highest rates were among children of mixed white and black-Caribbean ethnicity – 30 per cent.
Ethnicities with fewer than 100 pupils have been removed.
A Government spokeswoman said it is providing more than £37 billion to help families with rising costs, and will continue to keep eligibility under review.
