London Mayor makes pledge to protect free school meals funding

KHAN GIVES PROMISE TO SCHEME THAT SAVES FAMILIES AT LEAST £500 A YEAR

- By KUMAIL JAFFER Local democracy reporter

THE Mayor of London has promised to protect funding for Free School Meals (FSM) for primary school pupils as long as he remains in post.

Sir Sadiq Khan, who launched the programme in September 2023, has hailed the scheme as a “huge success” as he marked 100 million free meals being served to the capital’s schoolchildren. The Greater London Authority (GLA) budgeted £147.5million for FSM in 2025-26, rising to £150.5m next year.

This represents around a third of City Hall’s net revenue expenditure budget for various GLA projects. Despite a £19.2m funding gap, the Mayor said that FSM funding would not be touched to make up any deficit.

During a visit to Shoreditch Park Primary School, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m really pleased and proud that we've passed a really important landmark, which is 100 million free school meals that have been provided to kids across our city.