Low-income families in Bath & North East Somerset will be automatically enrolled for free school meals from September, instead of having to apply for them.
The Labour opposition on the Lib Dem-controlled council won unanimous support for their automatic enrolment proposal at a meeting on Thursday 21st November.
From next September, eligible families will be automatically registered by the council for the government-funded support.
To be eligible for free school meals, a family’s total household income must be less than £7,400 a year, or £617 a month, before benefits.
To put that in context, provisional figures for 2024 show the median average salary in B&NES is just over £32,000 before tax and the local mean average is over £40,000.
Almost 5,000 (4,715) B&NES children qualify for this government-funded support – a number that increased by 27% between May 2020 and May 2023.
By last January, 17% of B&NES state school pupils were eligible, and 2,500 of those were in primary school. But old government estimates suggest over 10% don’t claim – a number that could be much higher – and growing.
Councillor Lesley Mansell (Radstock) proposed the important change for Labour, asking B&NES to learn from other councils who’ve already made the change to make sure local children, families and schools receive this vital government money.
After the vote, she said: “I am delighted that this proposal was supported by every councillor at the meeting.
“It’s important we work together to change inertia into action and deliver for local children.”
Councillor Robin Moss, opposition leader and the Labour councillor for Westfield, who seconded the motion, said: “We’re really pleased this was a unanimously-supported motion and that B&NES has decided to go ahead with auto-enrolling eligible families for free school meals from September.
“It will make a real difference to struggling families in B&NES, and hopefully make a positive change. It’s just a first step for low-income families, but it’s a vital one.”
A Lib Dem amendment to the motion asked the leader of the council Councillor Kevin Guy to write to local MPs and government to seek a national rule change so that all families can be auto-enrolled centrally.
Other councils that have adopted or are trialling auto-enrolment include Bedford, Coventry, Durham, Lambeth, Lewisham, Middlesborough, North Yorkshire, Redcar and Cleveland, Tower Hamlets, Sheffield, Wakefield, Wandsworth, Westminster, and York.
