My Lords, I turn first to Amendment 89 in the names of the noble Lord, Lord Storey, and the noble Baroness, Lady Humphreys. As the noble Baroness said very eloquently, providing free school meals to eligible children is very important to this Government. We spend around £600 million per year making sure that 1.25 million infants enjoy a free meal under the universal policy. The per-meal rate was increased last year and the Secretary of State recently announced a further £18 million, increasing the rate to £2.41 per meal, which has been backdated to April this year. The noble Lord, Lord Young of Norwood Green, stressed the importance of supporting children in the early years, particularly post the pandemic. He is absolutely right.
Under the benefits-related criteria, the Government provide a free meal to around 1.9 million more children. For 2022-23, funding through the free school meal factor in the national funding formula is increasing to £470 per eligible pupil. In recognition of cost pressures, after the national funding formula rates were set the department provided extra for core schools funding for 2022-23. Core schools funding for mainstream schools, which includes benefits-related free school meals, is therefore increasing by £2.5 billion, compared with last year.
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The noble Baroness asked about the Government’s commitment to free school meals and linking the payments to inflation. More broadly, and in response to the question from the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, the Government are committed to ensuring that schools
have sufficient funding to fulfil their functions effectively, and clearly there are different ways in which that support can be provided.
I turn to Amendment 90 in the names of the noble Lords, Lord Storey and Lord Shipley. The Government are committed to ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to realise their potential. Pupil premium funding rates are increasing by 2.7% in 2022-23, and in absolute terms total pupil premium funding is increasing to over £2.6 billion this year, compared with £2.5 billion last year, but, of course, as I said in response to the earlier group, that is not the only additional support for children. In all, in 2022-23 we are allocating approximately £2,000 per pupil for all pupils who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, through a combination of the national funding formula, the pupil premium and the 2022-23 school supplementary grant.
Future decisions on free school meals and pupil premium funding must be considered in the light of all calls on schools funding. It is right that the Government should be able to take these decisions in the round, in light of the most recent information, to ensure that funding is being directed where it can do most good. The amendments would pre-empt such considerations. The Government will continue to place a high priority on providing free meals to children who need them and supporting disadvantaged pupils. I hope I have been able to reassure your Lordships on this point.
I turn to Amendment 161 in the names of the noble Baronesses, Lady Chapman and Lady Wilcox. The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014—the school food standards—require food and drink for pupils in all maintained schools, including academies, in England to comply with certain nutritional standards. They are critical to ensuring that schools provide children with healthy options.
We believe that the current standards provide a robust and appropriately flexible framework. The department’s current focus is on an expansive programme to promote compliance with the standards. We are working with the Food Standards Agency on local authority assurance and support on compliance. We are also promoting accountability and transparency by encouraging school food statements on school websites, and looking to pilot training for governors and for academy trusts.
Focusing on compliance and support is the right step now. Changing the standards in parallel risks confusion, and we must avoid any excessive burden associated with frequent reviews and expanded scope. Including value for money within the standards would be genuinely challenging as there are many variables that determine that; for example, local catering arrangements. I assure the Committee that we will take account of evolving evidence, but without such prescribed frequency.
I therefore ask the noble Baroness, Lady Humphreys, to withdraw Amendment 89.