Lincolnshire County Council says it cannot afford to match London Mayor Sadiq Khan's free school meal offer

Education bosses say they cannot afford to give all Lincolnshire primary pupils a free school meal.

The county council said it will not not be able to follow in the footsteps of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who this week announced an offer for every 4-11 year old for the next academic year.

Bosses say that they do not have the resources to roll this out for our children - and are having to raid their reserves just to keep services going.

Martin Smith, assistant director for education at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Replicating the London scheme locally is simply not something we can afford. As the council has repeatedly highlighted, Lincolnshire tends to receive less funding than London, and we are again having to draw on our reserves this year just to maintain existing services.

“However, free school meals are currently provided during term-time to around 25,000 eligible children in Lincolnshire.

"Over the last few years, these families have also received support outside of term-time via the Household Support Fund. In addition, free school meals are available to all other children in reception and years 1 and 2.”

Lincolnshire leaders have this week said the county would get an extra £200million each year if it was funded at the same rate as London.

New figures produced by the county council reveal the vast funding gap, which isn’t made up for by Levelling Up or Towns Deal money.

The capital receives more than 50% extra per person, according to the estimate, with £680 compared to £416.

Council leader Martin Hill has urged the government to conduct a Fair Funding Review to 'level the playing field'.

The government’s current funding formula has been accused of favouring urban areas, short-changing rural counties such as Lincolnshire.

Although government grants have been awarded to projects in ‘left behind’ areas, these fall short of making up the difference.

The county council has been forced to use reserves to balance its budget for the coming year, despite the maximum possible council tax increase.

Councillor Hill called for Lincolnshire to get its fair share of government money.

“Although like-for-like comparisons are difficult, we estimate that local government in Lincolnshire receives only £416 per person in revenue grant funding, compared to £680 in London,” he said.

“If Lincolnshire received the London rate, that would equate to an additional £200m per year, which would make a major difference. Instead, we are again having to draw on our reserves this year just to balance the books.

“In addition to revenue grant funding, Lincolnshire has benefited from around £92m of Levelling Up funding and a further £89m of Town Deals funding. These are one-off grants that come from national pots, which have been allocated across the country.

“Our lower funding levels mean that we are increasingly reliant on the money raised through council tax for maintaining our services.

“In addition, the repeated short-term financial settlements received from government makes longer term planning much more difficult. For example, there is significant uncertainty around what our funding will be after 2024/25, and this is a challenge for all local authorities.

“It’s long been recognised that Lincolnshire faces particular challenges as a result of its rurality and ageing population, and this should be reflected in our funding.

“So, we need to see progress from the government on the Fair Funding Review, the resetting of business rates, and plans for making adult care more sustainable. We will continue to push them on levelling the playing field.”

A spokesman for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “We are making available an additional £5.1 billion for councils in England in the next financial year.

“This includes an increase of up to 11% for Lincolnshire County Council, which could bring their Core Spending Power to over £639 million in 2023/24.

“The most deprived areas of England will receive 17% more funding per household this year than the least deprived.”

Additional reporting by Jamie Waller, Local democracy reporter