Skip to main content
Somerset County Council logo
Menu
Close menu
  • Home
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • Births, ceremonies and deaths
    • Births

      Includes registering a birth and ordering certificates

    • Marriages and ceremonies

      Includes ordering certificates and approved premises

    • Deaths

      Includes ordering certificates and tell us once service

  • Social care and health
    • Fostering and adoption

      Includes applying to adopt, becoming a foster carer and private fostering information

    • Carers

      Includes help, advice and support for carers

    • Adult social care

      Includes information for people who are 18 or over who have care and support needs

    • Help to live at home

      Includes equipment, care and support

    • Children’s social care

      Includes help for families and young people

    • Health and wellbeing

      Includes sexual health, preventing substance misuse and healthy workplaces

    • Public health

      Includes health checks, campaigns and mental health support

    • Safeguarding

      Includes protecting adults and children at risk

    • Housing options

      Includes care homes and sheltered housing

    • Specialist Public Health Nursing

      Includes information about health visitors, school nurses and public health nursing

  • Education and families
    • Adult learning

      Includes information about training courses across Somerset

    • Route1 advocacy

      Providing advice and support to children and young people

    • Choosing a school

      Includes information about catchment areas and admissions policies

    • School applications

      Includes information about applying to start school and moving to a different school

    • School life

      Includes term and holiday dates, exclusions and school activities

    • Childcare

      Includes entitlements, the support available and the latest childcare news

    • Fostering and adoption

      Includes applying to adopt, becoming a foster carer and private fostering information

    • Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

      Includes our Local Offer and the services available

    • School transport

      Includes information about different types of school transport and how to apply

    • Children

      Includes employing children, child protection and corporate parenting

  • Roads and transport
    • Problems on the road

      Includes how to report potholes, flooding and traffic lights

    • Signs and streetlights

      Includes speed limits, road signs and how to report faulty lights

    • Parking

      Includes paying or challenging a fine, blue badges and permits

    • Public and community transport

      Includes bus passes and park and ride information

    • School transport

      Includes information about different types of school transport and how to apply

    • Road projects

      We deliver Major Highway Schemes which have been identified through the Local Transport Plan (LTP) process

    • Rights of way

      Includes footpaths, bridleways and open access lands

    • Road works and road closures

      Includes information about plans for temporary and new works and closures

    • Road safety

      Includes how we work to make our roads safer

  • Libraries, community and leisure
    • Planning for Brexit

      What we are doing to plan for the UK leaving the European Union

    • Libraries

      Includes library membership, services and events

    • Volunteering

      Includes how to get involved in community activities and projects

    • Heritage

      Includes museums, records and archaeology

    • Safer communities

      Includes making your home safer and community safer

    • Community initiatives

      Includes community initiatives and community right to challenge

  • Waste, planning and land
    • Planning

      Includes applying for planning permission and reporting unauthorised developments

    • Waste

      Includes waste collections and recycling

    • Property

      Includes information about county farms and our land and building assets

    • Flooding and drainage

      Includes how we support flood prevention and planning

    • Rights of way

      Includes footpaths, bridleways and open access lands

    • Countryside

      Includes Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, walking and cycling

    • Emergencies

      Includes information about planning for emergencies

  • Business and economy
    • Do business with the Council

      Includes current business and contact opportunities

    • Supporting businesses

      Includes registering as a childminder and support and advice for businesses

    • Procurement

      Includes how we procure goods, services and works

    • Licences

      Includes approved premises licenses and permission for decorations on the road

  • Our information
    • Freedom of information

      Includes how to ask us questions about what we do

    • How we use your information

      Includes the information we hold about you and how we protect it

    • Accessing our information

      Includes Data Protection and the re-use of our information

    • Have your say

      Includes petitions and ongoing consultations

  • How the council works
    • Our plans

      Includes the County Plan and the Business Plan

    • Democracy

      Includes Councillors, meetings and elections

    • Our finances

      Includes our budgeting and spending information

    • Partnerships and Trusts

      Includes how we work with other organisations

    • Our performance

      Includes how we set and meet our goals and your feedback

    • One Somerset
  • Jobs and Careers

One Somerset

Find out more and have your say
  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy notices and cookies

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

For information and advice, read our pages on coronavirus or call our dedicated helpline

Home Education and families Free school meals
BETA

We're changing these pages to make them easier to read, help us improve our content.

Free school meals

See if your child qualifies for free school meals

  • Food support for families in Somerset

  • COVID-19 information

  • Eligibility

  • Apply

  • What happens next

  • Universal Infant Free School Meals

  • Contact

Food support for families in Somerset

Food support for families in Somerset

If your child gets free school meals please contact your child’s school for details, or if you feel your family needs extra support over the holiday call the Coronavirus helpline number on 0300 790 6275.

 

You can read more here

COVID-19 information

Because of the current situation with Coronavirus, we recommend all applications are now sent electronically by completing the online application form below. We aim to process applications within 10 working days, but if applicants don’t agree for the outcome to be emailed to them, it will take longer for letters to be sent notifying them of the outcome – we have very limited access to the office. Because of this, please do not post applications.

Children who attend a Somerset County Council school, whose parents or carers receive certain benefits may be entitled to free school meals.

Only the benefits listed here – and no other benefits – qualify you for free school meals for your children.

These are the benefits.

  • Universal Credit with an annual household income of less than £7,400 after tax
  • Income Support (IS)
  • Employment and Support Allowance (Income related) – not Contribution related
  • Income-based Job Seekers Allowance (IBJSA) – not Contribution based
  • Guaranteed Element of State Pension Credit.
  • Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
  • Child Tax Credit with an annual taxable income (as assessed by HMRC) of less than £16,190, as long as the family is not also in receipt of Working Tax Credit.

If you have recently become unemployed, but are still receiving Working Tax Credits, you may be entitled to free school meals.

During the coronavirus outbreak, the Government are temporarily extending free school meal eligibility to include children of families who have no recourse to public funds. Therefore, children will also be eligible for free school meals if their legal guardians’ household income is £28,200 or below and they meet one of the following criteria:

  • they are a Zambrano Carer
  • they have the right to remain in the UK under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and are subject to no recourse to public funds
  • they are supported under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (Children in Need)

They may also be eligible if they are supported under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

If you meet this additional criteria, complete the Free School Meals Application Form – Covid-19 Additional Criteria and send it in with the appropriate evidence.

Eligibility

Children must be in school all day and they will be provided with a meal at lunchtime which is paid for by the school.

It is the responsibility of the parents or carers to register their entitlement and request free school meals for their children.

Children in pre-school or nursery (known as childcare providers) do not qualify for a free meal until they start school, but applications will be processed so that when your child starts school, you will already be notified whether they qualify for a free school meal or not.

Apply

We will only process applications for schools that subscribe to the Free School Meals service. All schools in Somerset, except King Arthur’s School, Wincanton and The Mendip School, Prestleigh, Shepton Mallet, subscribe. If your child attends either of their schools, please contact the school directly to apply for free school meals.

Apply now

Or you can print out a copy of the Application form for free meals at school, fill it in and take the completed form to your child’s school, or send it to – Entitlements Team, County Hall, Taunton, TA1 4DY.

You do not need to send evidence with this application. If we need evidence later, we will ask you for it.

What happens next

We will check your eligibility, let you know and, if you are eligible, tell you how to start receiving free school meals – usually within 10 working days.

If your child is entitled to a free school meal, but requires a special medical diet, we can arrange for an appropriate meal to be provided. You must ask your doctor to write a letter explaining which foods must be avoided.

Once free school meals have been awarded to a child, they will remain in place for that child until at least March 2022 – whether your circumstances change or not – when it will be reviewed in line with the latest government requirements.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Universal Infant Free School Meals

Every child in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 is entitled to a Universal Infant Free School Meal. Each school is responsible for providing this and they may ask you to fill in an application form to show that you require a meal for your child or children. Therefore, please contact your school to discuss arranging a meal, or fill in the Universal Infant Free School Meal application form and hand it in to your child’s school.

Feedback - was this information helpful?

    We will use your feedback to improve this website. Please tell us if we have got something wrong, if there is something missing or if something isn't working.

    You can tell us about this on the complaints, comments and compliments page.



    scc logo

    Built by the SCC Digital Service

    • v1.11
    • Contact us
    • Accessibility
    • Privacy notices and cookies

    We use cookies to improve your browsing experience on our website and to analyse our traffic. By clicking accept, you consent to this. If you do not click accept you can continue to use our website without cookies. If you wish to remove your consent at any time, please clear your local storage.