City considers free school meals

All pupils in Brighton could get free school meals if the bid is successful

All pupils in Brighton and Hove could get free school meals if a bid for government funding is successful.

A motion is going before the council on Thursday calling on the authority to ask for the cash to run a pilot scheme.

It follows a three-year experiment in Hull during which teachers said pupils were "more relaxed and better behaved".

The motion, proposed by councillor Rachel Fryer, said the move would help families on small budgets who could not afford healthy food for their children.

Papers being put before the meeting said the uptake of school meals in the city was limited.

Even where young people are eligible for free school meals, they don't always take this up as there can be a stigma

Council motion

They also say 13.5% of children in Brighton and Hove are already obese when they start school; less than a third aged 10 to 15 eat enough fruit or vegetables; and a third of children in the city are obese by year six (age 10/11).

The motion calls for pupils to have "the right eating environment" and for children to be involved with growing and preparing food, as well as eating together as a social activity.

But it says the cost of school meals remains a barrier and adds: "Even where young people are eligible for free school meals, they don't always take this up as there can be a stigma attached to this entitlement."

Take-up of school meals is about 43% in primary schools and about 34% in secondary schools in the city.

The government has recently announced a two-year pilot in two years' time which will see free school meals for all pupils aged four to 11.