England now offers a free school meal to every child in a Universal Credit home. Nobody is signed up automatically.

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25 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   Wales drops the same income limit

   Rhun ap Iorwerth, who was sworn in last week to lead the Welsh government, told the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday that secondary school pupils in Universal Credit households will get free school meals. [4] The change removes the GBP 7,400 a year income limit and brings Wales into line with England. [4] Every primary school pupil in Wales already gets a free meal, rolled out in stages between September 2022 and September 2024. [4] Plaid Cymru promised the policy in its first hundred days in government before this year's Senedd election. [4]

   Why it matters — It closes the last gap in Wales: a secondary pupil in a working household on Universal Credit was paying for a lunch their younger brother or sister got free.

2. 03

   A child poverty plan aimed at B and Bs

   The UK government published a child poverty strategy promising that no child will live in a bed and breakfast. [6] Minister McGovern said that in the five years to 2024, 74 children, including 58 babies, died with temporary accommodation named as a contributing cause of death. [6] The strategy follows the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap in April and the free school meals expansion. [6] The Institute for Fiscal Studies said there is considerable uncertainty about how far the measured poverty figure will fall. [6]

   33 of 100

   of UK children are in relative poverty after housing costs

   Why it matters — The UK government says 4.5 million children, about a third of all children in the UK, are in relative poverty after housing costs, and three quarters of them are in working families. [6]

3. 04

   A council will sign children up itself

   Somerset Council in south-west England voted unanimously to enrol eligible children in free school meals automatically instead of waiting for parents to apply. [3] Labour councillor Leigh Redman, who proposed it, said no child should miss out because of paperwork, lack of awareness or stigma. [3] The council will build the register from the council tax and housing benefit data it already holds. [3] Redman said schools are losing pupil premium income of up to GBP 2,690 per eligible child a year. [3]

   Why it matters — The council already holds the proof that a family qualifies, and until now it was asking the family to supply it again.

4. 05

   England rewrites the school dinner

   New school food standards in England ban deep-fried food, cut processed meats such as ham, sausages and chicken nuggets to once a week, and limit cake to twice a week in secondary schools and once in primaries. [7] Education Secretary Lucy Powell called them once-in-a-generation changes. [7] Schools will have to publish their food policies and menus online. [7] The funding rate for a free meal is GBP 2.61 in most of England, GBP 3 in London and GBP 3.40 in Wales. [8]

   Why it matters — School leaders say the rules arrive without money for kitchens or chefs, so the same budget now has to buy a different menu. [7]

5. 06

   Record fines for term-time holidays

   A record 459,288 fines for term-time holidays were issued in England in 2024-25, according to the Department for Education. [9] That is 4% more than the year before and 93% of all fines for unauthorised school absence. [9] It is the first full year under a 2024 rule change that raised each fine from GBP 60 to GBP 80 per parent, per child. [9] Fines are issued by individual councils, and rates still vary: 103 per 1,000 pupils in Yorkshire and the Humber against 36 in London. [9]

   9 of 10

   of England's school absence fines were for term-time holidays

   Why it matters — Two parents taking two children away pay GBP 320, at GBP 80 each per child, against holiday prices the Department for Education acknowledges are thousands of pounds lower in term time. [9]

6. 07

   The gap between pupils widened again

   The Education Policy Institute, a research body in England, reported that the gap in results between poorer pupils and their classmates has widened and is bigger at every stage of school than before the pandemic. [10] Disadvantaged pupils were on average 19 months behind by the time they sat their GCSEs at 16. [10] In early years the gap is 17% larger than before Covid. [10] The institute measures disadvantage by who has ever been eligible for free school meals. [10]

   Why it matters — That measure is the same register the expansion has just enlarged, so the national figure will move partly because more families sign up. [3][10]

7. 08

   A breakfast club that costs more than it pays

   Barbara Middleton, head teacher of Shiremoor Primary School in Newcastle, in north-east England, has turned down the UK government's free breakfast club offer. [11] Schools are paid GBP 25 a day plus GBP 1 for each pupil who attends, and must set aside at least 30 minutes before lessons. [11] She said the money will not pay for the staff she would need to run it safely. [11] The Department for Education says many schools have called the scheme fair and workable, and 145 schools in north-east England have signed up. [11]

   Why it matters — Another head teacher, Craig Brown of Dean Bank Primary in Ferryhill, has signed up and estimates about GBP 10,000 from the UK government over the academic year. [11]

8. 09

   Northern Ireland puts up the price of lunch

   The Education Authority in Northern Ireland is raising the price of a school dinner, which has not gone up since 2017-18 while prices rose about 35%. [12] A meal costs the authority an average of GBP 4.28 to produce. [12] About 210,000 school meals are eaten every day there, and roughly 90,000 pupils are entitled to a free one. [12] The authority says it faces a GBP 300m funding gap and, unlike previous years, expects no extra money in-year. [12]

   Why it matters — Parents there described cutting a child down to two or three hot lunches a week, because the whole rise arrives in one step rather than in small annual ones. [12]

9. 10

   Indonesia's free meals make 2,000 ill

   About 2,000 students and teachers across Indonesia fell ill with suspected food poisoning in three days after eating meals from Indonesia's government-run free school meals programme. [13] In one case 777 people at a high school in Rembang, in Central Java, were affected. [13] The scheme, Makan Bergizi Gratis, is a signature multibillion-dollar policy of President Prabowo Subianto. [13] Parents and teachers described slimy chicken and undercooked food; local authorities are testing samples. [13]

   Why it matters — Indonesia's government said it would cover medical costs, and the programme has also drawn corruption allegations and criticism of what it costs. [13]

10. 11

    US school meal funding follows the food-aid rolls

    US federal money for schools that feed every pupil free depends on at least a quarter of their families being on assistance programmes such as SNAP, the country's food aid scheme. [14] SNAP participation has fallen by more than 5 million people since last summer, when a tax and spending law cut the programme. [14] More than 49,000 US public schools drew that universal-meals funding in the 2024-25 school year. [14] School officials told NPR they may have to move money from classrooms or stop feeding everyone. [14]

    Why it matters — No child's home has to change for a school to drop universal meals. The count of families on the assistance roll is what the funding reads. [14]

11. 12

    New US diet rules could raise the cost of a meal

    US school districts say new federal dietary guidelines could make a school meal more expensive to prepare, at the same time as cuts to programmes that helped them buy local food. [15] The new guidance cuts back ready-to-eat meals and may bring whole milk back into schools. [16] Officials expect it to take a while before the guidelines reach school kitchens. [16] Districts already work on thin margins on the federal reimbursement they receive per meal. [15]

    Why it matters — Districts already work on thin margins on what they are paid per meal, so a change in what must be served lands on the same budget. [15][16]

12. 13

    Australia has no national school lunch

    Australia is one of the few high-income countries with no national school lunch programme and is not a member of the School Meals Coalition, the alliance of governments aiming to feed every child by 2030. [17] Around 80% of primary school children in high-income countries get school meals, including almost all of them in Finland, Sweden, Japan and South Korea. [17] About 16% of Australian families with dependent children went without enough food in 2023, rising to 34% in lone-parent households. [17]

    Why it matters — The World Bank calls school meals one of the largest social protection programmes of their kind, cutting malnutrition and keeping girls in school longer. [18]

13. 14

    Falling birth rates are closing schools

    More than 100 schools in England, mostly in urban areas, have closed permanently as the number of children falls, researchers at The Conversation report. [19] The last drop in pupil numbers, in the 2000s, was met with more funding and smaller classes rather than closures. [19] Their analysis suggests closures fall disproportionately on areas with higher deprivation. [19] The Department for Education's own assessment is that there is enough school capacity nationally. [19]

    Why it matters — The researchers say the closures fall disproportionately on communities with higher levels of deprivation, and that the effect on those families is not well understood. [19]

14. 15

    Private schools weigh joining the state sector

    Private schools in England are facing VAT on fees and the loss of charitable business rates relief, both introduced after the July 2024 general election. [20] Staff costs have risen too, through higher employer national insurance contributions and a higher minimum wage. [20] Smaller schools with little endowment or falling numbers are the ones whose survival is in question. [20] Researchers are asking whether some could join the state sector instead of closing. [20]

    Why it matters — The schools whose survival is in question are the small ones, and the pressure comes from tax and staffing changes rather than from a shortage of pupils alone. [20]

15. 16

    The October energy cap, with VAT off electricity

    Ofgem's price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026 sets electricity at an average 26.32p per unit with a standing charge of 54.83p a day, and gas at 7.97p per unit with a 29.68p daily charge. [21] The UK government has removed VAT from electricity bills from 1 October to 31 March, so the electricity figures carry no VAT while gas still carries 5%. [21] Ofgem blames higher wholesale gas prices, linked to conflict in the Middle East. [21] A year earlier the cap was published as GBP 1,755 for a typical household. [22]

    Why it matters — Ofgem says this period cannot be compared directly with previous ones because of the VAT change, so the yearly figure people usually quote does not exist this quarter. [21]

16. 17

    Council tax arrears jump in two English districts

    In Surrey Heath, in south-east England, council tax accounts in arrears rose from 381 in 2021-22 to 2,606 three years later, an increase of 584%. [24] Referrals to bailiffs there went from 1,050 to 2,190 over the same period. [24] In neighbouring Waverley, accounts in arrears rose from 1,337 to 4,322, up 223%, with bailiff referrals up from 601 to 782. [24] Surrey Heath says the trend is in line with the cost of living crisis and that a change of enforcement agent in July 2024 may have created duplicate cases. [24]

    Surrey Heath, 2021-22381 accounts

    Surrey Heath, 2024-252,606 accounts

    Waverley, 2021-221,337 accounts

    Waverley, 2024-254,322 accounts

    Why it matters — Council tax arrears are, with unpaid parking and traffic fines, most of what enforcement firms in England and Wales are sent to collect. [26]

17. 18

    Private bailiffs face rules at last

    The UK government announced plans to regulate private bailiffs in England and Wales, giving people facing enforcement an independent complaints process and protection from intimidating behaviour and excessive repayment demands. [25] The announcement came alongside a clampdown on rogue builders. [25] More than 7 million cases a year are sent to enforcement firms, which collect over GBP 1bn, most of it unpaid parking and traffic fines and council tax arrears. [26] Firms do not currently have to be authorised by the Enforcement Conduct Board, and some have refused to sign up. [26]

    Why it matters — Chris Nichols, who runs the Enforcement Conduct Board, said a year after the first commitment there was still no clear plan. [26] Until a date is set, bailiff firms can keep refusing to join the board. [26]

18. 19

    A credit file carrying a stranger's debts

    Carl Graham Williamson, 43, from Blackpool in north-west England, has been confused for 20 years with another man who shares his name and date of birth and owes about GBP 120,000. [27] He says thousands of letters have arrived from debt collectors, county court judgments have been registered and bailiffs have come to his home. [27] He now puts credit applications in his wife's name because he expects to be refused. [27] He has complained to the credit agencies and to the Information Commissioner's Office, which oversees UK data protection. [27]

    2 menSame name, same date of birth

    ↓→

    Debts landing on the wrong credit fileGBP 120,000

    Why it matters — He believes debt-recovery firms match him through debtor tracing, and each time it happens he spends months proving he is not that man. [27]

19. 20

    Fines follow a car she no longer owns

    Zoe, 35, from Aldridge in the West Midlands, part-exchanged her car at a garage in Derby earlier this year. She had no logbook, so she paid GBP 25 for the garage to notify the DVLA, the UK's vehicle licensing agency. [28] The agency was never notified, and more than 100 letters followed about parking fines and penalty charges in Manchester, Northampton, Leeds and places she has never visited. [28] The total is now over GBP 4,000. [28] The dealership believes its form was lost in the post. [28]

    Why it matters — Driving charges brought by West Yorkshire Police were withdrawn at a magistrates' court, and the DVLA has confirmed she is no longer the owner, but enforcement firms are still demanding more proof. [28]

20. 21

    NS and I starts repaying the families it lost track of

    NS&I, the UK government's savings bank, has begun contacting people whose money it could not match to them, after bereaved families spent years trying to reach relatives' savings. [29] Rhona Edwards, near Chepstow in Wales, completed the paperwork for her late husband's GBP 50,000 of premium bonds after probate and was still waiting months later, unable to close his estate. [29] Some families hired lawyers to recover the money. [29] NS&I has 24 million customers. [29]

    Why it matters — Interim chief executive Jim Harra apologised, said bereavement claims are taking longer than they should and that extra staff have been brought in. [29]

21. 22

    Personal insolvencies rise 10% in a year

    Individual insolvencies in England and Wales in May were 10% higher than a year earlier. [30] The total was made up of 656 bankruptcies, 4,191 debt relief orders and 6,376 individual voluntary arrangements. [30] A debt relief order writes off debts for people with almost no assets or spare income; an individual voluntary arrangement is a court-backed deal to pay part of what is owed over several years. [30]

    Why it matters — Individual voluntary arrangements were the most common route out and debt relief orders the second; bankruptcy, the oldest of the three, was the rarest. [30]

22. 23

    Higher earners in the US fall behind too

    More Americans are behind on mortgage and credit card payments, and the strain is spreading past the lowest-income borrowers, according to a report from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. [31] Credit counselling agencies, which usually help people on low incomes restructure debts and avoid bankruptcy, say people on higher incomes are now coming in. [31]

    Why it matters — Counselling agencies see the trouble before the default figures do, because people come to them while they are still paying. [31]

23. 24

    Universal Credit finishes its rollout nine years late

    Universal Credit, Britain's main working-age benefit, is nearing the end of its rollout about nine years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of pounds over budget. [32] It now supports more than eight million people. [32] It began with a visit by Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith to the Easterhouse estate in Glasgow in 2002, and the idea was to make work pay. [32] The Centre for Social Justice counts 700,000 unemployed graduates claiming benefits, up 46% since 2019. [32]

    Why it matters — Free school meals in England are now keyed to a Universal Credit claim, so the benefit's own reach decides how far the meal reaches. [1][32]

24. 25

    Childminders say the new tax reporting will close them

    Childminders in England say Making Tax Digital, which requires self-employed people to keep digital records and send HMRC quarterly updates, threatens their businesses. [33] One childminder started a petition, now with more than 4,500 signatures, warning it could tip an already fragile childcare system into crisis. [33] The concern is the loss of a simplified allowance for wear and tear on a home used for childminding. [33] HMRC says very few childminders will need to sign up from April, and those who do can still claim for wear and tear. [33]

    Why it matters — A childminder who cannot absorb the cost has to raise fees, offer less or close, and parents on government-funded hours cannot be charged more. [33]

25. 26

    Debt charities took calls on Christmas Day

    UK debt charities reported a January spike in demand, with thousands of people reaching help over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. [34] StepChange's website had 3,958 visitors on Christmas Day and 15,401 over New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. [34] National Debtline recorded its busiest single day on record in the first working week of January. [34] Money Wellness said many people come to them late at night. [34]

    Why it matters — The charities point to the pressure to spend at Christmas even when money is short, and to priority bills falling due straight afterwards. [34]