By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottinghamshire County Council will discuss opposition plans to shift to an “opt-out” system for children and families accessing free school meals.
Eligible families who have not applied for the service could become automatically enrolled under the opposition proposals.
However, the ruling Conservatives say the proposals may not work on a “practical level” because the current system is led by Government criteria.
New school census figures show there are 25,265 pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals across Nottinghamshire’s schools.
The October data works out at 22.1 per cent of the 114,497 children on the roll in Nottinghamshire schools between reception age and Year 11.
Ashfield is the area with the highest proportion of children using the service, at 5,283 children or 29.4 per cent of pupils.
The area with the lowest uptake is Rushcliffe, where 2,015 pupils – or 11.2 per cent of all children – claim the support.
But now the Independent Alliance is to call on the authority to take steps to increase these figures and find families who may need help.
The group wants the council to automatically enrol children on the scheme using housing benefits and council tax reduction data.
They say this would find families who may not have applied for the service or be aware they were eligible.
Currently, families must apply to the authority and provide their national insurance number, their last name and their date of birth.
Applications are assessed using the Department for Education criteria to ensure households meet the tests for free school meals.
Eligibility includes qualifying for benefits like Universal Credit, Housing Benefits, Income Support, Jobseekers’ Allowance or tax credits.
But a motion will be presented to the full council meeting on January 17 saying there “may be children entitled to free school meals who do not claim them”.
It will call on the council to use existing benefits data to automatically enrol families on the scheme.
And it is asking for a policy of ‘opting out’ so families get the service until they no longer need it.
The motion will be submitted by Councillor Francis Purdue-Horan (Ind) and seconded by Cllr Debbie Darby (Ind).
They say a similar system enforced by Sheffield City Council has helped more families to access meals.
Cllr Purdue-Horan told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Free school meal claims are at their highest level ever as the cost of living crisis worsens.
“We believe even more will qualify but don’t claim them. Asking parents to opt out of free school meals, rather than the other way around, is a no-brainer.
“Experience from Sheffield shows this increased the number of children receiving free school meals.
“It also increases the amount of targeted funding via the Pupil Premium.
“The council has access to the data, meaning we can easily identify those who don’t claim free school meals where they qualify.
“No child should go hungry in Nottinghamshire and this is an entirely common sense move that will make a huge difference.”
The ruling Conservatives say any move to increase uptake “would be a good thing” but said the motion may not be possible to enforce.
Cllr Ben Bradley MP (Con), the council’s leader, says he’s “not convinced” the council has access to housing benefits and council tax reduction information.
However, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service his administration takes the policy suggestion “seriously” and will investigate it further.
He said: “Increasing uptake for eligible families would be a good thing, but I don’t see how this would work on a practical level.
“We obviously take all these kinds of suggestions seriously and I’ll go away and look at it.
“But, at a glance, I don’t see how it’s practically possible, nor how it could be changed locally when it’s a national programme.”
He added: “As far as I can see, Sheffield is checking the housing benefit register to identify pupils and then telling schools.
“Sheffield is a unitary council so it holds that information. I’m not convinced we do but I will look [into it].”
