The Government's suggestion that expanding free school meals will lift 100,000 children out of poverty next year has been disputed by a leading think tank.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has announced that every pupil whose household is on Universal Credit will soon have an entitlement to free school meals.
The Department for Education said the extension, from the start of the 2026 school year, will see half-a-million more children benefit from a free meal every school day.
It also claimed that nearly £500 will be put back into parents' pockets every year, while the expansion will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty.
But the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the Government's announcement 'will not see anything like 100,000 children lifted out of poverty next year'.
