Some 500,000 more children will be eligible in England

Campaigners are pushing to bring Scotland in line with England after it was announced children whose parents are on Universal Credit can claim free school meals.

The UK Government says the change will make 500,000 more pupils eligible, which the prime minister said would "help families who need it most".

Now a Scots anti-poverty group is calling for the Scottish Government to do the same through the Scottish Child Payment.

John Dickie, head of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, said: “It’s great news that the UK Government has committed to extending free school meals to all children in England in receipt of Universal Credit.

“Scotland has been ahead of the game for many years on free school meals in the UK with Scottish primary pupils in P6 and P7 already benefiting from equivalent entitlement and in P1 to P5 provision is rightly universal. It’s now time for Holyrood ministers to build on the progress made north of the border and roll out extended provision in all Scotland‘s secondary schools as well.”

Children, young people, parents and carers have all made clear that the current means test is unfair, and analysis shows that thousands of children are living in poverty but are still not entitled to a free school lunch.

Dickie said entitlement to all those in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment, as is currently happening in P6 and P7 and being piloted in some secondary schools, must now be the priority.

He continued: “We hope this announcement is a sign of what’s to come from autumn’s UK child poverty strategy, with the Westminster government taking more action to meet its manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty across the UK.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson also stressed the plan would lead to higher educational outcomes because "if you're hungry, it's really hard to concentrate".

The Department for Education has set aside £1 billion to fund the change up to 2029.