Child Poverty Bill

That was only part of the Government’s response and I think that my noble friend is entitled to a more detailed response. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, and the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, referred to the take-up of free school meals. This is a hugely important issue. School lunch take-up is one of the indicators in the child health PSA and the national indicator set. Increasing take-up of school lunches is vital to increasing healthy eating in schools and to the financial viability of school lunch services. It is also a priority for the School Food Trust, which is supporting schools through its Million Meals and teenage campaigns. The results of its fourth annual survey of take-up of school meals for 2008-09 were announced in July last year. Overall figures for 2008-09 should not be compared directly with published national take-up figures for previous years for a number of reasons. However, comparisons can be made for a subset of local authorities. These show that the change in take-up was 0.1 per cent in primary schools and 0.5 per cent in secondary schools—not huge, but at least heading in the right direction. Now, for the first time, we have a truly comprehensive picture of school lunch take-up across the country. The trust did a tremendous job in collecting usable data from 145 local authorities at primary level and 139 local authorities at secondary level. We are pleased to see that in those local authorities where it has been possible to make a comparison there have been increases in take-up at both primary and secondary levels. The noble Baroness referred to removing the stigma of free school meals, which is a hugely important issue. Some children and families may feel precluded from taking advantage of their entitlement because of the way in which the scheme is administered and the stigma that is attached to it. Following a Cabinet Office study and report that called for a minimisation of the involvement of school staff in free school meal issues, the DCSF has worked closely with other government departments to develop a free school meals eligibility checking system, known as the Hub. The Hub enables local authorities to simultaneously check data from the DWP, Home Office and HMRC in order to ascertain whether a parent qualifies for free school meals. It represents a significant achievement in reducing bureaucracy and costs for local authorities and is a vital plank in our drive to improve school food by encouraging more parents to sign up their children for free school lunches. The Hub is currently being extended to allow parents to check their own eligibility and apply online for free school meals. A number of schools and local authorities have also put in place swipe cards and other systems that, as well as reducing queues in the canteen, help to ensure that children who receive free school meals are not identified. There is progress on that. The noble Baroness raised the possibility of enhanced opportunities for free school meals under the Future Jobs Fund. That is absolutely right and it gives me the opportunity to remind noble Lords that this is a £1 billion project. I do not have the up-to-date numbers of the take-up to hand, but it has been a significant issue in helping to keep down unemployment rates among young people. The noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, said that this is a UK Bill that focuses only on England and in part on Wales. It is not entirely fair to describe this as a UK Bill, because certain sections involving targets and strategy are UK-wide. However, Part 2 is England only. For the record, as the noble Lord will be aware, eligibility for free school meals in Scotland is similar to that in England, except that, in addition, families can claim free school lunches for their children if they receive both maximum child tax credit and maximum working tax credit and if their income is under £6,420 in 2009-10, as assessed by HMRC. Discussions are taking place in Scotland with a view to agreeing an extension to free school meals eligibility for pupils in the early years of primary school. This is part of moving Scotland towards a universal policy of healthy, balanced and nutritious free school lunches for all pupils in the first three years of primary school. Once the details of an extension have been agreed, it is expected that this will be implemented from August 2010. I hope that I have dealt with the points that noble Lords raised. I am conscious that I owe my noble friend a more detailed and considered response to the important point that she raised. On that basis, I hope that the noble Baroness will not press the amendments on behalf of the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, and that noble Lords will feel able to support the Government’s amendments.