Free school breakfast pilot properly funded, MP says

Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds MP said schools would get "far more" money than they had previously

An Oxford MP has defended the government's free school breakfast club programme after claims it is not adequately financed.

Former development minister Anneliese Dodds was speaking as she visited St Joseph's Primary School in Headington, one of 750 early adopters of the pilot scheme in England.

Some MPs and headteachers have expressed concern that, at 60p per pupil per day, funding is too low and many schools will not be able to afford to take part.

Schools will be reimbursed based on attendance when the pilot scheme starts next month.

The government said the free breakfast clubs would improve attendance, attainment, and help tackle child poverty.

Ms Dodds said: "If half of children in the average school are taking part in these free breakfast clubs, that school would be getting £23,000 a year.

"That's far more than the just £1,600 they would have been getting before."

Headteacher Jess Tweedie said the pilot had been well received by parents

St Joseph's is one of eight schools in Oxfordshire taking part in the pilot, which begins in April.

Headteacher Jess Tweedie said it had been very well received by parents, who were often juggling the demands of work and childcare.

She said more than 110 parents had signed up already.

"I think every school's budget is different at the moment," she said.

"We're having to cut back on many things, and it's about what we feel is important for our school, and whether we can make that work, and we will try."

Mum Leigh said the scheme would make a huge difference to her family, and added: "It will enable us financially to have a little bit more freedom."

Daniel Cairney, operations director of Oxford Mutual Aid, said the scheme was "a very small part of a larger issue"

Daniel Cairney, the director of operations at food bank Oxford Mutual Aid, said scrapping the two-child benefit cap would have a more realistic impact.

He said the organisation was seeing a steep rise in families with three or more children requiring basic support.

"While the breakfast clubs are helpful, I think it's a very small part of a larger issue," he added.

The government plans to roll the breakfast clubs out to all schools in England later in the year.