No guarantees on free school meals, says Education Secretary Nicky Morgan
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has refused to say whether she will scrap free meals for four to seven-year-olds as she toured schools in the West Midlands.
During a visit to Stourbridge yesterday Mrs Morgan said every department in Whitehall was looking at ways of saving cash ahead of George Osborne's November spending review.
Reports have claimed the policy to give every child of infant school age a free lunch will be scrapped, despite a Conservative manifesto pledge to keep it.
Those were the words of Education Secretary Nicky Morgan during her visit to two secondary schools in Stourbridge yesterday.
Mrs Morgan praised the work of students, staff and all connected with both Redhill School and King Edward VI College.
She said 'inspirational' Redhill's conversion to an academy was an illustration of why the Government supported creating more academies. Nicky Morgan said: "I think Redhill is a really inspirational school. I'm a great supporter of academy status and I think the reason it works is the people who know best how to run a school are the headteachers, teachers and governors – not Whitehall – and Redhill is a great example of that."
She visited various classes in both schools and took part in a question and answer session with members of Redhill's school media team.
Redhill headteacher Stephen Dunster said: "It was wonderful for our pupils to meet the Secretary of State and for her to come into the school and great to see how Redhill pupils shared that experience with her.
When asked about the future of the policy, Mrs Morgan told the Express & Star: "We have a spending review which the Chancellor will announce in November and in my department I have a protected budget and an unprotected budget.
"Across Whitehall we're looking in every department and every line of the Government at budgets that aren't protected."
Mrs Morgan visited Redhill School and King Edward VI College in Stourbridge and also went to a school in Solihull.
Free hot meals for infants were spearheaded by the Liberal Democrats and former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in 2014 and it has been estimated this reduces costs for parents by £400 per year, per child.
The move was controversial as some schools struggled to cope with the extra demand for lunches.
Government departments were ordered by Chancellor George Osborne to draw up potential cuts to their budgets of 25 per cent 40 per cent ahead of his spending review due in November.
The Department for Education has the majority of its spending budget protected but around £14 billion spent on early years education, teacher training, colleges and the Universal Infant Free School Meals programme (UIFSM) is not protected.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver said scrapping the school meals scheme, which is believed to cost between £600m and £800m per year, would be 'a disaster'. Mrs Morgan said visiting schools across the country was key in offering her an insight into the education system.
"I think it's really important for me as Secretary of State to leave Westminster and visit schools around the country," she said.
"Redhill is a great school and it was interesting talking to the pupils about character education and see their very impressive art exhibition.
"At King Edward VI we saw a sixth form in action and it was good to meet some aspiring teachers."
