Nottingham City Council has secured more than £1.6 million in additional funding for children and schools after introducing an innovative Free School Meals (FSM) auto-enrolment programme.
The programme will help ensure hundreds of local families receive the support they are entitled to.
By securely matching existing benefits data with school records, the new process automatically identified 1,219 children who were eligible for Free School Meals but had not been registered.
As a result, children will be able to access a healthy, nutritious meal during the school day, while schools benefit from vital additional funding through the Government’s Pupil Premium.
The initiative has been introduced at a significant time for Free School Meals nationally.
From September 2026, the Department for Education is expanding eligibility to all children in households receiving Universal Credit. At the same time, transitional protections introduced during the rollout of Universal Credit are ending, meaning entitlement will increasingly be based on current eligibility.
As more families become eligible and entitlement changes over time, Nottingham’s auto-enrolment approach will help ensure children do not miss out on support simply because an application has not been submitted.
Increasing Free School Meals registration plays an important role in tackling food insecurity and improving children’s health and wellbeing. It also helps schools access additional Pupil Premium funding, which can be used to provide targeted educational support, learning resources, school trips, enrichment opportunities and pastoral care. These interventions help improve educational outcomes and life chances for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Councillor Linda Woodings, Executive Member for Children’s and Young People at Nottingham City Council, said: “Every child deserves the best possible start in life, and no family should miss out on support they are entitled to because of an administrative barrier.
“By introducing Free School Meals auto-enrolment, we have been able to identify more than 1,200 eligible children, helping ensure they receive a healthy meal at school while bringing additional funding into our schools.
“This funding will make a real difference, supporting schools to provide extra resources, extra-curricular and cultural opportunities and targeted support that help children thrive both in and out of the classroom. We are proud to be leading the way with an approach that puts families first, reduces inequalities and maximises investment in Nottingham’s children and young people.”
The initiative demonstrates Nottingham City Council’s commitment to ensuring every child receives the support available to them, removing barriers for families, maximising Government funding for local schools and improving outcomes for children across the city.
For more information about Free School Meal Auto-Enrolment, visit the Nottingham City Council website.