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Councils 'should take action on free school meals'
17 Aug 2011

Staff from local councils have been urged to take action to ensure children eligible to receive free school meals are able to claim them.

Comments from Imrain Hussain from the Child Poverty Action Group suggest that more should be done to ensure poorer children are able to consume a hearty lunch.

His statement, made to Children and Young People Now, also put forward the idea of a smart card catering system to remove the stigma around claiming free meals.

Mr Hussain's comments come after the government came under fire for failing to take action against child poverty in the country's capital, after statistics revealed London had the highest uptake of free school lunches.

"Local authorities can do more to work together to improve the registration of parents whose children are eligible for free school meals," he added.

Last month, similar comments were put forward by Canton councilor Rameesh Patel who claimed cashless catering would end discrimination for poorer pupils, the South Wales Echo reported.