A Lancashire school pulls out of the free breakfast scheme, saying government funding falls short

A Lancashire primary school has withdrawn from the government’s free breakfast club scheme, citing a lack of funding that makes it impossible to cover costs.

Sharneyford Primary School in Bacup was among 14 Lancashire schools selected for the initiative, which aims to provide breakfast to pupils in 750 schools nationwide. However, head teacher Sarah Smith said the funding—78p per meal for children on free school meals and 60p for others—simply isn’t enough to pay for food, staffing, and resources.

“Because the free 30 minutes has to be immediately before school, and our before-school club runs for an hour, we’d be losing half our earnings,” Smith explained. “You can’t charge for that half an hour before the school day.”

The school, which has space for 70 children, is already struggling financially. “Budget is incredibly tight for us anyway,” she said. “To put ourselves in an even more vulnerable position is just not viable.”

Despite pulling out, Smith emphasised the importance of such initiatives. “If we could have all of our children coming in for the half an hour before school, and we could give them all food with no cost implications, we would do it in an instant,” she said.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defended the scheme, saying the government had tripled investment in breakfast clubs to £30 million. “This will make a big difference to parents, putting money back into their pockets,” she told the Laura Kuenssberg Show.

However, for schools like Sharneyford, the reality is stark: without adequate funding, even well-intentioned programmes are simply unsustainable.