News & Views

In June 2025, the UK Government announced they would be extending School Meal Funding eligibility to all households receiving Universal Credit, regardless of their income, lifting the previous £7,400 earnings cap introducing in 2018. This is expected to benefit over 500,000 additional pupils and will come into effect in the 26/27 School Year. This funding is also tied to an updated rollout of the School Food Standards, which are aiming to enhance consistency and quality of these meals across the country.

LACA- the school food people, have launched a call for children, caterers and parents, food suppliers and schools to support great school lunches with a series of celebratory events, positive action and below are the list of expected outcomes.

The provision of high-quality catering services within education facilities plays a significant role in the overall well-being and academic success of students. As the demand for nutritious and diverse meals continues to grow, educational institutions must recognise the crucial role they play in tendering catering services. This article aims to shed light on the importance of this process and emphasise the involvement of Parent Governors in making informed decisions that benefit both students and the school community.

According to the latest data from the Department for Education, the total number of children in the UK receiving free school meals is approximately 2.38 million. However, this may vary depending on how many children actually take up their entitlement.

The .GOV guidance below summarises your considerations. Red Box have provided further annotation to support you in determining if you are in a position to tender and how long the process will take.

'Why can't we have Yorkshire puddings on more than one day?!'. As of January 2015, all maintained schools, new academies, and free schools are required to follow the standards of the School Food Plan. It was launched by the Department of Education and in line with the requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. As part of our auditing on a termly or sometimes monthly basis, Red Box analyse the school menu and offer seen on the day of our visit to confirm the standards are being met. So what are the School Food Standards?

Our School-based clients and Catering Contractor partners may be in the best position to share this information with their own communities. Kids can eat for free or a very low cost this half term as cost of living hits hard.

LACA members sit at the heart of school food delivery, representing over 3,300 different organisations and individuals, all dedicated to ensuring that our children get the benefits from a healthy, nutritious school lunch.

As taken from the Government online guidance and BBC news report.

Another 1.5 million children in England, should be added to free school meals list says a review into food and healthy eating  - so almost one in three children would get free meals.