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A joined-up approach to supporting families this school year
With September and the return to school approaching, now is a critical time to ensure families have the support they need to start the new school year with confidence. With significant changes coming to Free School Meals eligibility, there is a key opportunity to help families access the benefits and support they are eligible for.
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Free School Meals eligibility updates
From September 2026, Free School Meals (FSM) eligibility is changing significantly. In England, all households receiving Universal Credit will become eligible, regardless of earnings. In Wales, the expansion is available to secondary school pupils in Years 7 and 8.
This removes the current earnings threshold and splits eligibility into three cohorts:
- Targeted FSM: Households on Universal Credit with earnings at or below £7,400
- Expanded FSM: Households on Universal Credit above that threshold
- Universal: All Reception to Year 2 students in England and all primary school students in London and Wales
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A key consideration for local authorities is that decisions related to school funding and the allocation of Pupil Premium in England, Pupil Development Grant in Wales and Pupil Equity Funding in Scotland take into account the number of children in the targeted cohort. Therefore, local authorities should encourage and support families who meet the eligibility criteria to apply for FSM in order to unlock additional support for schools.
Data-driven targeted take-up campaigns are one of the best tools at the disposal of schools and local authorities in order to increase take-up and prepare for the newly eligible cohort.
Learn more about the eligibility changes here.
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Proven strategies from local authorities to increase Free School Meals take-up
Click each client to see the strategies used and the impact achieved.
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Additional family support
Joined-up, early support remains crucial. As local authorities prepare for the Families First reforms, identifying financial hardship and other indicators of vulnerability can help services reach families earlier and coordinate support around their needs. Join our upcoming webinar here.
At the same time, targeted approaches can help ensure that eligible families don't miss out on practical support such as Healthy Start vouchers, which help pregnant women and families with young children afford healthy food and milk. St Helens, for example, increased Healthy Start take-up, helping families access £15,800 in support. Read more here.
Support also needs to extend beyond school children. Young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) can access support to maximise their income and improve their financial situation. East Riding of Yorkshire Council recently helped 79 NEET households increase their earnings by an average of £424, while simultaneously recovering £7,648 in Housing Benefit overpayments. Read more here.
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Reform’s £50 billion welfare proposals
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Deven Ghelani joined Laila Cunningham on LBC to discuss Reform’s proposals to take £50 billion out of the social security system.
Drawing on his experience working on Universal Credit, Deven explained why reforming the welfare system is complex, why the detail matters and why simply cutting support could have serious unintended consequences.
Listen back here
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Between 2020 and 2026, East Riding of Yorkshire Council launched 88 targeted campaigns, reaching 43,547 households and generating over £24 million in support for residents.
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Royal Borough of Greenwich used LIFT to identify residents who were most likely to need help, reaching people before problems escalated. Advisers from welfare rights, housing, employment, debt advice and customer services worked together to provide joined-up support.
£893,000 was secured in financial gains for residents (£5,300 average per household) and £1.3 million in priority and non-priority debt was managed.
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Since launching last year, over 17,000 Nationwide Building Society customers have identified £115 million in additional annual support, with households discovering an average of £555 per month in potential extra income.
Nationwide's Better Off Indicator has now been expanded to Virgin Money customers and can be used by anyone wishing to check their eligibility for additional support.
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Welcome to our new clients
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Stay in the know with our webinars
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Delivering Families First programmes through integrated welfare and safeguarding
Wednesday 9 September 10:30 - 11:30
Register here
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⚠️ Starting this September, we will be using a new webinar platform called RingCentral Events. We highly recommend taking two minutes to run this quick pre-event check to ensure you can join us smoothly. It provides a comprehensive report to share with your IT department if they need to update your firewall or VPN using these network connectivity settings.
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Updates across the Better Off Platform
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LIFT: Targeted support for the Crisis and Resilience Fund and Free School Meals
We are thrilled to announce we will soon be introducing a new dedicated Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) filter to LIFT. It will enable teams to monitor households receiving CRF support and track changes in their financial situation over time, as well as identify overlooked households and demonstrate impact, in line with government guidance. Reach out to your Client Services Manager to send us your dataset now and be among the first to use the filter when it goes live.
Alongside this, our new Free School Meals filter ensures your council stays ahead of upcoming policy changes. The tool helps teams quickly identify families who have become newly eligible or are entitled to support but not currently claiming, ensuring households receive the core benefits they need.
N.B. Have you explored the new LIFT dashboard yet? If you have any questions or would like to join one of our training sessions in September, get in touch with your Client Services Manager.
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Better Off Calculator: Expanding accessible support for Welsh speakers
Our fully human-reviewed Welsh language version of the Better Off Calculator is now live, helping organisations deliver accessible support to Welsh-speaking households.
When calculating benefit eligibility, precise language is essential. Automated translation tools can easily misinterpret complex policy and financial terminology, leaving residents at risk of missing out on support. Our Welsh translation has been crafted and quality assured by fluent human experts, delivering the total accuracy of the Better Off Calculator now in Welsh.
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The next step for MAST: Connecting Youth Justice, Education and Probation data across South Wales
Safeguarding leaders across South Wales have already demonstrated the value of bringing agencies together through the Multi Agency Safeguarding Tracker (MAST). The next opportunity is to extend that shared visibility by bringing youth justice, education and probation data into the same safeguarding picture.
This is not simply about adding more data. It is about giving leaders and practitioners a stronger understanding of risk, vulnerability and service involvement across safeguarding organisations.
MAST has already brought together interactions across social care, health, police and fire, helping partners identify connections that may otherwise remain hidden. The South Wales programme has estimated annual savings of around £2 million across partners, alongside significant reductions in practitioner time and avoided costs.
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More children will be eligible for Free School Meals from September, the next challenge is take-up
While Keir Starmer’s premiership has officially come to an end, one of his most significant policies is about to come into force: the expansion of Free School Meals in England to more than 500,000 children from September.
Announced in June 2025 as a precursor to the 2025 Child Poverty Strategy, the government has estimated that these additional meals will lift over 100,000 children out of poverty.
But how will it all work? And how will it affect school funding?
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Open roles at Policy in Practice
- Senior Software Engineer (Better Off Calculator)
- Senior Software Engineer (Low Income Family Tracker)
- Software Engineer (Low Income Family Tracker)
- Business and Account Manager
- Client Services Manager
Read more about our open roles and join our talent pool at policyinpractice.co.uk/careers
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Our Missing Out 2026 report will provide the latest analysis of unclaimed benefits and support across England, Wales and Scotland, helping policymakers, local authorities and organisations understand the scale of the problem and where action can make the biggest difference.
The report will estimate how much support is being missed across 12 benefits and support schemes, who is most affected, and what practical steps can improve take-up. It will also show how better use of data, targeted engagement and existing tools can help identify need, increase incomes and reduce pressure on public services.
Register your interest here.
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