Newcastle North’s Catherine McKinnell has urged the Government to take forward the Dimbleby Review’s recommendation to introduce automatic registration for free school meals during a debate in Parliament on the cost of living and food insecurity.

Catherine highlighted research from the North East Child Poverty Commission showing that 11% of pupils eligible for Free School Meals in the North East currently do not claim the support.

Speaking during the debate Catherine outlined “how important it is that they have regular healthy meals for their physical and mental development” and that many miss out on Free School Meals “due to the fact it is a complex process and some are unaware of their entitlement.”

Urging the Government to take forward the recommendation, Catherine suggested the upcoming Food Strategy White Paper is the “perfect opportunity” to take “a simple step that would make a big difference to hundreds of thousands of families across the country and put right some the inadequacies of the Free School Meal systems right now”.