Charities urge automatic free school meals for every child in care in England

The Fostering Network and TACT have launched a campaign calling on the government to give every child in care in England an automatic entitlement to free school meals, warning that eligibility changes from September 2026 could leave many foster children losing out.

From this school year, free school meals in England are available to all children in households receiving Universal Credit, replacing the previous £7,400 earnings threshold. Children in care have never been automatically entitled: eligibility depends on whether the carer's household receives a qualifying benefit. Transitional protection from 2018, which let children who qualified before entering care keep their meals, ran only until the end of 2025/26, according to Suffolk County Council's fostering service.

A survey of 713 foster carers in England by the two charities found that 51 per cent expected children in their care to lose free school meals from September. Around a third of foster carers are of pensionable age, and those who do not claim Universal Credit, for example because they have retirement savings, cannot pass on entitlement to the children they look after. Many said the loss could exceed £100 per child a month and would also end access to the Holiday Activities and Food programme.

Eight organisations, including the two charities, the Nationwide Association of Fostering Providers, CoramBAAF, Adoption UK, Foster Talk, BASW and Home for Good, have written to the Education Secretary and the Children's Minister, Josh MacAlister, asking for automatic entitlement, continued access to linked schemes and clear guidance for schools, councils and fostering services. No government response had been published at the time of writing.

What this means for you: if a child you foster has lost free school meals this term, the decision turns on your household's benefit status rather than the child's needs. Carers on Universal Credit can apply through their council; under current rules others cannot. Schools still receive pupil premium plus for looked after children regardless.