Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much from the public purse has been distributed in the UK by Magic Breakfast; and what objectives have been set for that expenditure.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Magic Breakfast currently receive central government funding from a contract with the Department for Education. The objective of the project is to set up and run 184 breakfast clubs in schools where 35% or more children are eligible for free school meals, to ensure that children are fed and are at school on time and ready to learn. Magic Breakfast are required to develop plans to enable the breakfast clubs to be self-sustaining beyond the contract period. The project is being externally evaluated.

The value of the contract is £1.087m, of which £518,523 has so far been paid. This is the only central government funding currently provided to Magic Breakfast in England. Any funding in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland would be a matter for the relevant governments. The Department does not hold a breakdown of contract expenditure by parliamentary constituency.