Abstract
Following the election of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition Government in the UK elections of 2010, the then Education Secretary Michael Gove announced that plans to extend a pilot scheme to provide free school meals for children in primary school would be abandoned. The previous Labour Government’s pilot scheme was implemented between 2009 and 2011 and extended free school meals entitlement in Wolverhampton (UK) and provided universal free school meals for all primary school children in Newham and Durham (UK). These pilot schemes replaced previous eligibility criteria, where pupils were entitled to free school meals if their parents claimed ‘means-tested out-of-work benefits (such as Income Support) or Child Tax Credit (and not Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of no more than £16,190’ (Kitchen et al. 2013, p.1).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
CiF sections in web-based newspapers allow members of the public, anonymously or through the use of pseudonyms, to post comments about stories, opinions or the contributions of others. As I have argued elsewhere (Pike and Kelly 2014), these CiF sections provide insights into what some people are thinking about (often in the moment) in relation to a variety of issues. They are, in this sense, interesting spaces in which to do social science (all spellings, grammar and punctuation from CiF contributions reproduced here are as they appear in the original).
References
Adams, R. 2013. Free school meals policy gets lukewarm reception from educationalists. The Guardian, September 18. Available from http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/sep/18/free-school-meals-lukewarm-reception. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Blackman-Woods, R. 2010. HC Deb 30 June 2010. vol 512, cols 230 WH. Available from http://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2010-06-30/debates/10063026000001/FreeSchoolMeals#contribution-10063026000118. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Blair, T. 2006. Our Nation’s Future, Healthy Living. Speech given in Nottingham UK, July 26. Available from http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.number10.gov.uk/Page9921. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Brown, W. 2015. Booked#3 What exactly is Neoliberalism? Dissent. Available from https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/booked-3-what-exactly-is-neoliberalism-wendy-brown-undoing-the-demos. Accessed 2 Apr 2016
Cullity, G. 2008. Public Goods and Fairness. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 86(1): 1–21.
Dean, M. 2010. Governmentality: Power and rule in modern society. London: Sage.
Department for Education. 2013. ‘Evidence check’ memorandum Universal infant free school meals (UIFSM). Available from https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Education/evidence-check-forum/Universal-infant-free-school-meals.pdf. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. 2013. Free school lunch for every child in infant school. September 17. Available from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/free-school-lunch-for-every-child-in-infant-school. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
———. 2014. Deputy Prime Minister launches free school meals. September 2. Available from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/deputy-prime-minister-launches-free-school-meals. Accessed 2 April 2016.
Education (Provision of Meals) Act. 1906. Available from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1906/57/enacted. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Evans, C.E.L., D.C. Greenwood, and J.E. Cade. 2010a. A comparison of the nutrient intakes of British primary school children: A systematic review and meta-analysis. UK: Nutritional Epidemiology Group, Centre of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Leeds.
Evans, C.E.L., D.C. Greenwood, J.D. Thomas, and J.E. Cade. 2010b. A cross-sectional survey of children’s packed lunches in the UK: Food- and nutrient-based results. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 64: 977–983.
Gelbier, S., and S. Randall. 1982. Charles Edward Wallis and the rise of London’s school dental service. Medical History 26: 395–404.
Gustafsson, U. 2002. School meals policy: The problem with governing children. Social Policy and Administration 36: 685–697.
Hall, S., and A. O’Shea. 2013. Common-sense neoliberalism. In After neoliberalism? The Kilburn manifesto, eds. S. Hall, D. Massey, and M. Rustin. Soundings.
Hastings, A, N. Bailey, G. Bramley, M. Gannon, and D. Watkins. 2015. The Cost of the Cuts: The Impact on Local Government and Poorer Communities. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Available from http://socialwelfare.bl.uk/subject-areas/government-issues/welfare-state/josephrowntreefoundation/173775Cost_Cuts_Summary-Final.pdf. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Loughton, T. 2010. HC Deb 30 June 2010. vol 512, cols 243 WH. Available from http://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2010-06-30/debates/10063026000001/FreeSchoolMeals#contribution-10063026000118. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Kitchen, S., V. Brown, C. Crawford, L. Dearden, E. Greaves, C. Payne, S. Purdon, and E. Tanner. 2013. Evaluation of the Free School Meals Pilot Impact Report. Available from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/184047/DFE-RR227.pdf. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Massey, D. 2013. Vocabularies of the economy. In After neoliberalism? The Kilburn manifesto, eds. S. Hall, D. Massey, and M. Rustin. London, UK: Soundings.
Morgan, K. 2006. School food and the public domain: The politics of the public plate. Political Quarterly 77(3): 379–387.
Morris, N. 2014. David Laws vs Dominic Cummings: Education Department goes to war with itself over free school meals. The Independent, March 11. Available from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/david-laws-vs-dominic-cummings-education-department-goes-to-war-with-itself-over-free-school-meals-9185048.html. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Passmore, S., and G. Harris. 2004. Education, health and school meals: A review of policy changes in England and Wales over the last century. Nutrition Bulletin 29(3): 221–227.
Pike, J. 2010. An Ethnographic Study of Lunchtime Experiences in Primary School Dining Rooms, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Hull.
Pike, J., and P. Kelly. 2014. The Moral Geographies of Children, Young People and Food: Beyond Jamie’s School Dinners. London: Palgrave.
Rees, G.A., Richards C.J, and J. Gregory. 2008. Food and nutrient intakes of primary school children: A comparison of school meals and packed lunches. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 21: 420–427.
Sibley, D. 2004. Bodies and cultures collide: Enlistment, the medical exam and the British Working Class, 1914-1916. Social History of Medicine 17(1): 61–76.
Verheijden, M.W., and F.J. Kok. 2005. Public health impact of community-based nutrition and lifestyle interventions. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 59(1): 66–76.
Welshman, J. 1997. School meals and milk in England and Wales, 1906–45. Medical History 41: 6–29.
Wolff, J. 1998. Fairness, Respect, and the Egalitarian Ethos. Philosophy & Public Affairs 27(2): 97–122.
Williams, Z. 2014. Free school meals should be for those who need them, not those who don’t. The Guardian, September 2. Available from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/02/free-school-meals-need-1bn-universal-benefit. Accessed 2 Apr 2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pike, J. (2017). 15 From Health to Hard Times: Fairness and Entitlement in Free School Meals After Neo-Liberalism . In: Kelly, P., Pike, J. (eds) Neo-Liberalism and Austerity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58266-9_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58266-9_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58265-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58266-9
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)