The minister for culture, media and sport says schools in deprived areas will be the “biggest beneficiary” as she launched the government’s breakfast club scheme in Rossendale.
Lisa Nandy was joined by Rossendale and Darwen MP Andy MacNae at Balladen Community Primary School in Rawtenstall.
They sat with children at the school, which is one of the 750 providers nationally offering free breakfast to their students.
However, concerns about the initiative were raised by nearby Sharneyford Primary School, which said the cost was not enough to cover the food and staff and they withdrew from the scheme.
Ms Nandy said: “You can see from schools like this, money is a huge issue because they are dealing with lots of young people who come through the doors with additional needs and are determined to provide the support they need.
“That is why we are trialling them 750 in the first round, to make sure that we get the funding model right.
“One of the things we have already done is ensuring we are putting money in up front, so we are not just paying for breakfast, but we are also paying for set up costs and a lump sum at the start of every term. We are paying more for schools for children with additional needs in areas of high deprivation.”
The scheme intends to provide parents with up to 95 additional hours and £450 per year if their child attends free breakfast clubs every day. In addition, the government is also unveiling further support through funded childcare and a new school uniform cap on branded items, all totalling up to £8,000.
Ms Nandy added: “We think that will ensure schools like this one are the biggest beneficiaries as it is where the greatest needs not just for children but families as well, where parents are working shifts and need additional help with childcare, we think this will help the whole family.”
There has currently been £30m of funding committed to the scheme, tripling investment from the previous government.
She said that the school would lose half of their earnings as they would be unable to charge for the half hour before the school day.
Despite receiving 60p per child and 78p per free school meal child, Ms Smith says that it would not be enough to cover the cost of staffing, food and resources.
Mr MacNae said: “Sharneyford is a particular set of circumstances and a unique example and only has 60 pupils on roll, and the number going to breakfast club is small, and that creates a challenge in terms of staffing.
“It is a learning process, and that is why we are rolling them out as a pilot project, and we are representing very small schools with small intakes.
“With any scheme, you learn from it and build from it, and the idea that every school has a chance of a free breakfast club is a game changer.”
Speaking to the pupils at the school, it was clear that this scheme was going to be beneficial and provide more time for parents to get to work.
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Esme, age eight, said: “It is really helpful for my mummy and daddy, and they bring me here and they have more time to go to work.”
Currently, the five other primary schools signed up to the early adopter scheme are Audley Infant School, Pendle Primary Academy, Earby Springfield Primary School, Balderstone St Leonard’s and St Mary’s Rawtenstall.
Nationally, the scheme has been granted £7m and will be used to test the delivery of the programme ahead of wider national rollout in England.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “As a parent, I know that the combined pressures of family life and work can often feel impossible to juggle.
“That is why our manifesto promised to make parents lives easier and put more money in their pockets with free breakfast clubs. Under a year since we came into office, this government is delivering that through our Plan for Change.
“The rollout of free breakfast clubs is a truly game-changing moment for families in this country. They mean parents will no longer be hamstrung by rigid school hours and have the breathing space they need to beat the morning rush, attend work meetings and doctors’ appointments, or run errands.
“And crucially, it means better life chances for children.
“By making these clubs free and universal, we’re doing something that previous governments have never done. We’re going further and faster to deliver the change working families deserve. That’s the change this government was elected to deliver.”
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