free school meals

I received the email from Tamara at NAWRA today re. free school meals and sure enough, Calderdale’s website is misleading.

What I am not clear about is whether someone receiving WTC as well as, say, Income Support would qualify for free school meals? I am told that they would not as WTC contains an element of payment that is meant for school meals. Is this correct?

Also, anyone know where the legislation for free school meals can be found?

Hi Billy

The answer to your questions:

Yes, as long as a client is in receipt of one of the qualifying benefits, e.g. Income Support, they are eligible for FSM.

The criteria can be found at https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals

Hope this helps?

Tamara

here’s the background to the issue ... Tamara, let me know if i’ve mis-transcribed anything -

Issue – Clients being turned down and being discouraged from claiming Free School Meals.  Possibly widespread over the UK following a random check of 11 council websites, with 7 showing incorrect criteria.

Background – Client (with cancer) with partner and 2 children. They contacted their local county council with a view to claiming Free School Meals as they were in receipt of income-related ESA. They were told on two separate occasions that because they were in receipt of WTC, they had no entitlement to free meals and therefore did not need to claim.

Criteria – taken from Gov.uk website is:

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit

Interpretation – many local authorities are putting their own interpretation onto the above criteria, by assuming that if a client claims another out-of/in-work benefit apart from those listed above, then they cannot claim Free School Meals.  Many councils are adding their own criteria to the list above, here are two examples from council websites adding extra criteria:

- ‘You are not eligible if you receive any amount of Working Tax Credit’
- ‘Please note that anyone claiming Working Tax Credit, Contribution-Based Job Seeker’s Allowance and/or Contribution-Based Employment and Support Allowance is NOT eligible for free school meals, regardless of what other credit/benefits are being claimed.’

Worth checking your own local auth’s site?

And don’t forget that 16/18 year olds who receive an appropriate benefit in their own right are eligible.

Section 512 ZB of The Education Act talks about Tax Credits, generally. The Education (Free School Lunches) (Prescribed Tax Credits) (England) (Amendment) Order 2011 says
“Prescribed tax credits
3. Child Tax Credit is prescribed for the purposes of section 512ZB(4)(aa) of the 1996
Act in circumstances where C’s parent—
(a) is entitled to Child Tax Credit but not to Working Tax Credit; and
(b) is receiving Child Tax Credit by virtue of an award which is based on an annual
income not exceeding £16,190.”.

Anything else that is relevant to this?

Edit added
The reason I ask is I want to be able to direct my Local Authority to all the relevant legislation, having asked them to amend its web page to take down the statement that if someone receives WTC they cannot get Free School Lunches.

There’s a partially consolidated version here of s512ZB here:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/512ZB 

but that has since been mucked about a bit by s26 Child Poverty Act 2010 - however the three main benefits ( IS/JSA(IB)/ESA(IR) )  and the various prescribing orders* appear continue to work in the same way)

* As well as the Prescribed Tax Credits Order there are:-

The Education (Free School Lunches)(State Pension Credit) Order 2005 [PC(guarantee) route ]

and

The Education (Free School Lunches) (Working Tax Credit) (England) Order 2009 [  WTC just during 4-week run-on route]

thank,s that’s great