I haven’t found many references in the media to what was immediately apparent to me when the introduction of free school meals was announced last week – the conflict with the government’s other policy of funding a Pupil Premium based on a family’s eligibility to claim a Free School Meal.

But here’s a report on how things are working out in Tower Hamlets, where free school meals have already been introduced, and lo and behold, it’s a problem:

Tower Hamlets has discovered one major problem: that parents whose children are eligible for free school meals no longer have the push to register to receive them, since the meals are free anyway. But free school meal eligibility is also used by central government as a measure to distribute the “pupil premium” – additional payments made directly to schools for each pupil who qualifies.Since the pupil premium is now worth £900 a year – soon to rise to £1,300 a year – parents eligible for free school meals who fail to register will hurt the school that would otherwise have received the extra support.This case – of one government flagship policy colliding with another – needs urgent attention before next years national rollout.”Thats critical, how the new arrangement is brought in by the government has got to be easy for schools to administer, because we dont want to lose that pupil premium funding – it would be stupid if we did,” says Fagan.

via Free school meals policy by council leaves parents pinching themselves | Education | The Guardian.