Responding to a new Education Policy Institute (EPI) report on registration for free school meals, which recommends that eligible pupils should be automatically enrolled, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“This report includes several sensible recommendations and NAHT has long called for auto-enrolment of pupils for free school meals.

“Too many eligible families living in poverty are currently missing out on free meals for their children and registration also unlocks vital pupil premium funding for schools to help disadvantaged pupils.

“We would urge the government to use the opportunity afforded by its welcome move to roll-out free school meals for children in all households in receipt of universal credit next year to also introduce auto-enrolment and ensure more families benefit.

“Poverty harms not only children’s health and wellbeing, but also their ability to focus and flourish at school, and this would be a small but important step towards the government’s stated mission of tackling the issue as we await the recommendations of its child poverty taskforce.”