Nearly 300,000 disadvantaged young children will be excluded from free meals in 'hidden crisis'
Calls have been made to revise the Free School Meals policy
A new report has exposed a hidden crisis in early years food provision, revealing that nearly 300,000 young children will miss out on free meals.
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Around 290,000 of children under five in poverty will be excluded from free meal support in nurseries and childcare settings, according to Bremner & Co.
The independent food policy consultancy's report, supported by The Food Foundation, Impact on Urban Health and the Early Years Food Coalition, found that government plans to expand Free School Meals (FSM) falls short.
From September 2026, the policy will begin to extend to any child in England whose parents receive Universal Credit will be able to claim free school meals.
However, while welcoming the FSM expansion, Bremner & Co claimed that hundreds of thousands of early years children will be "left behind" as they will fail to meet the criteria for free food.
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Under the revised policy, children must attend a specific type of state-maintained nursery, be present both before and after lunch and be registered by a parent or carer through a formal application process to qualify for a Free Early Years Meal.
Bremner & Co said that these additional barriers means that "even when families meet income and benefits-related criteria, most young children remain excluded."
Dayna Brackley, partner at Bremner & Co, said: "The children who need nutritious food the most are the least likely to get it.
"We are facing a situation where providers see more children arriving hungry, but without the means to feed them.”
It comes after the Social Metrics Commission revealed last year that a record number of children, 5.2 million or 36 per cent, were living in deprivation.
The study also found that the cost of living crisis had pushed more than 2 million people in UK in severe hardship.