Free School meals

A cl i has just emailed to say that she cant get free school meals because she gets Contribution based ESA. The family are on UC and have no income from earnings at all but the council’s website states -

“If you are claiming the benefits listed below you are not eligible for free school meals. This is regardless of what other benefits/credits are being claimed.

Working Tax Credit
Contribution-Based Job Seeker’s Allowance and/or Contribution-Based Employment and Support Allowance”

I have looked up the guidance to LA’s re free School meals aqnd I cant find any mention of exclusion in the terms above.

Has anyone else come across this?

Entitlement to free school meals is set out in legislation and is not affected by what the council has written on its website.

If you get UC and have earned income below the relevant amounts, then you qualify. Entitlement is not then further affected by whether you are also getting nsESA or whatever else.

Possibly it is just a poor choice of wording.