Free school meal pilots are already running in three local authorities, Durham, Newham and Wolverhampton. Durham and Newham are trialling universal free school meals for all primary age children and Wolverhampton is trialling extended eligibility. Although the pilots only started in September 2009, there has already been some very positive feedback.
In December 2009, the Pre-Budget Report announced the government would be expanding the successful pilots to trial universal free school meals to all primary aged children in at least one local authority area in each region of the country. This means a minimum of nine pilot areas in total from September 2010, lasting for one academic year.
All local authorities are being asked to express their interest by 17 February, with final bids to be submitted to the DCSF by 12 March. In regions where bids are received from more than one local authority, successful bids will be determined by high free school meal eligibility and low school meal take-up in order to maximise the impact of the pilot on lifting children out of poverty. Participating areas must also be willing to match fund the pilot and cooperate in evaluation arrangements.
The names of the successful authorities will be announced by Easter.
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