Will free school meals be funded beyond 2024-25

Created on

18 November 2024

Will free school meals be funded beyond 2024-25?

The Mayor's draft core budget for 2025-26 includes funding to deliver free school meals for the remainder of the 2024-25 academic year. However, there is no allocation at this stage for an extension of free school meals beyond that,¹ with the Mayor's free school meals programme expected to cost £140 million for the 2024-25 academic year.² The Mayor's 2024 Election manifesto stated that he would work to make universal free school meals permanent for all state primary school children.

In the Autumn Budget the government announced an increasing investment in breakfast clubs to over £30million.³ The Draft 2025-26 GLA:Mayor Budget was submitted to the Budget and Performance Committee less than two weeks after the Chancellor's first budget. None of the government's announcements have been reflected in the draft budget.

The London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee will tomorrow question senior Greater London Authority (GLA) staff on the Mayor's draft core budget for 2025-26, which was published on Monday 11 November.

The Committee will scrutinise the budget plans for the wider GLA Group from 11 December 2024.

Key figures from within the draft include:

• The Mayor's draft core budget for 2025-26 includes revenue expenditure of £775 million and capital expenditure of £1.8 billion.
• The funding forecast for 2025-26 at £775 million is £155 million less than the £930 million for 2024-25 primarily due to lower interest receipts and lower business rates.
• The GLA:Mayor 2025-26 Budget consists of £775 million of gross revenue expenditure. This comes from funding sources such as that received from business rates, council tax, reserves and interest (£254.7 million) and external ring-fenced income received by the GLA such as the Adult Skills funding received from the Government (£520.4 million).

Guests include:

• David Bellamy, Mayor's Chief of Staff
• Richard Watts, Mayor's Deputy Chief of Staff
• Mary Harpley, Chief Officer, GLA
• Fay Hammond, Chief Finance Officer, GLA
• Dianne Tranmer, Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Business Improvement, GLA
• Tunde Olayinka, Executive Director for Communities and Social Policy, GLA
• Phil Graham, Executive Director, Good Growth, GLA
• Anna Casbolt, Assistant Director Financial Services, GLA

The meeting will take place on Tuesday 19 November from 10am, in the Chamber at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, E16 1ZE.

Media and members of the public are invited to attend.

The meeting can also be viewed LIVE or later via webcast or YouTube.

Follow us @LondonAssembly.

Notes to editors

1. P27, Draft GLA Mayor Budget 2025-26, 11 November 2024
2. The Greater London Authority Consolidated Budget and Component, para 2.13
3. What does the Budget 2024 mean for education?, 31 October 2024
4. Read the agenda papers.
5. Neil Garratt AM,Chairman of the Budget and Performance Committee, is available for interview.
6. Find out more about the work of the Budget and Performance Committee.
7. As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.

For more information, please contact Tony Smyth in the Assembly Media Office on 07763 251727 or [email protected]. For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the Assembly duty press officer.