Breakfast clubs provide childcare for children in a safe and supervised environment before the start of the school day. Breakfast is provided in some cases.
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference, Reeves announced that up to 750 schools with primary-age pupils will be invited to take part in a £7m breakfast club pilot next year. The funding will allow these schools to run free breakfast clubs for their pupils in the summer term (April to July 2025).
The Department for Education will work with the schools selected as part of the pilot to understand how breakfast clubs can be delivered to meet the needs of schools, parents and pupils when the programme is rolled out nationally.
Reeves said the move will help reduce the number of primary-age pupils starting the school day hungry, and will ensure children come to school ready to learn. It will also support the Government’s aim to tackle child poverty by addressing rising food insecurity among children.
She said at the conference: “Today I can announce that that will start in hundreds of schools for primary school-aged pupils from this April, ahead of the national roll-out. An investment in our young people, an investment in reducing child poverty, an investment in our economy.
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“And an investment so that, in years to come, we can proudly say that we left behind a Britain where the next generation has a chance to do better than those who came before it.”
The new scheme will be on top of the current national school breakfast programme, which offers all pupils in participating schools free breakfast supplies.
Research by the End Child Poverty coalition found that rates of child poverty at or above 25% are particularly prevalent in the North East, North West and West Midlands. It also found high levels of inequality in London, where the constituency with the greatest child poverty rate – Bethnal Green and Stepney – has a rate that is 19 percentage points higher than the average for the region.
‘A good step forward’
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: “We welcome Labour’s recognition of the seriousness of child hunger and the impact this has on their education, and the importance of universal rather than means-tested provision.
“Breakfast clubs are a good step forward, provided they are fully funded, but Labour need to be bolder. The NEU is calling on Government to take urgent action to eradicate the spectre of child hunger from our schools by providing free school meals for all children in primary school.
“A hot, nutritious school dinner every day will support millions of children whose families are facing the impossible choice of paying bills or eating during the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation, and remove any stigma around much-needed additional support. We must make sure no child goes too hungry to learn.”
