Salford council will lobby the government over fears an expansion of free school meals could become a 'postcode lottery' without more support. It comes as more than 16,000 children could benefit from support over the holidays.
At the council's Cabinet meeting today (8 September), it was agreed to continue the city's existing school holiday food support scheme for the October half-term, Christmas holidays and February half-term. Between now and 2029, the local authority will receive £6m.
£1m allocated to extend holiday support
The decision to reallocate £1m to continue the scheme will provide eligible families with continued financial support during the remaining school holiday periods of the 2026/27 financial year, giving additional support at a time when the cost of feeding children can place extra pressure on family budgets. This is while changes are happening nationwide to increase eligibility for free school meals and the funds come from the Crisis Resilience Fund.
Before the government expanded free school meals, there were nearly 16,000 children eligible across the borough in 2024. A 2026 cabinet report said there were 17,410 live claims and over a quarter of children in Salford were living in absolute low income families in 2023/24.
Concerns over income threshold and funding
The move was broadly welcomed by cabinet members who praised the support provided against a backdrop of families struggling with the cost of living. Criticisms were also levelled over the current income threshold for free school meals for being too low.
Councillor Mike McCusker highlighted the need to keep the scheme going, adding: “There are people almost permanently in crisis and we can’t remove support from those individuals without any confidence that we have got systems in place.”
Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said the local authority was reviewing the scheme to look at how it could be delivered long term as well as lobby the government given the expansion of free school meals will have a greater impact in boroughs like Salford where deprivation is higher. A council report said schools were raising concerns about how they will fund free school meals within their budgets.
New eligibility criteria from September 2026
He said the council had to 'urgently review and evaluate what has been done to date' and lobby the government as 'there is a bit of a postcode lottery here'. Council officers said they were already in discussions with the government and further updates on cost of living support will be issued later this year.
Starting from the 2026/2027 academic year (September 2026), children across England will qualify for free school meals if a household receives Universal Credit. There are two categories for those eligible. Either you have to earn an annual net income of £7,400 and below or you will be receiving Universal Credit with earnings above that threshold. The national free school meals programme is not provided during the school holidays, which is a gap the Salford council scheme will fill.
Coun Jim Cammell, who oversees children's services in Salford, said the council was ahead of the game compared to other councils and had been more complicated to deliver than expected, but added: “It’s very good news for me that we can commit to do this for the rest of this year.”
He added: “We know that the cost of living continues to put pressure on families, and that school holidays can bring additional costs for parents and carers. Food is one of the everyday essentials where families can feel that pressure most, which is why we are continuing our school holiday support through to February. This will provide important breathing space for eligible families during the October half-term, Christmas and February half-term, while we take the time to understand the impact of the changes to Free School Meal eligibility.”
