Hard up families have been delivered a lifeline as letters offering free school meals to thousands more kids across Stockport begin dropping through letterboxes. Children in households that receive council tax support, housing benefit or both - but who do not currently qualify for free school meals - will be eligible from the start of the new academic year in September.
It means more than 3,000 extra youngsters will get a paid-for hot meal at school or college. The Stockport council initiative has been designed to support residents during the ‘cost of living crisis’ - extending the offer to low-income families who do not benefit from the nationally funded free school meal support (FSM).
It applies to children aged between seven and 18 who live in Stockport, including those who go to non-Stockport schools and those who have gone on to college and other forms of further education. The £1.8m package - paid for by one-off council funding - was proposed by Labour at the start of the year and incorporated in the Lib Dem administration’s budget, which was passed in February.
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