A hundred days have passed since the Labour government took office, and in that time, important steps have been made to tackle child morning hunger. One of the key moments was the announcement of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill in the King’s Speech, which included a vital commitment: free school breakfasts for all primary school pupils. At the Labour Party conference in September, Rachel Reeves announced a pilot programme that will bring breakfast clubs to 750 schools starting in April 2025.
During the same hundred days, Magic Breakfast has been working hard to ensure this policy commitment is effective and inclusive. We sent an open letter to Sir Keir Starmer, sharing our advice and support for the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, and in mid-July, we launched our Breakfast Powers Opportunity campaign. Thanks to our incredible supporters, we brought this campaign to party conferences across the UK in August and September.
At the Labour conference in Liverpool, we set up a stand covered with children’s drawings and calls for change, sharing the message of how breakfast powers their day. Our Youth Advisor Sophie, shared her powerful story to key political decision-makers about the impact of school breakfasts. The engagement we received—from MPs to teachers, corporate leaders to council members—was inspiring.
Our research with Teacher Tapp, released in early September, showed just how much support there is for this cause from Teachers across the UK: 88% back the government’s pledge to provide breakfast in every primary school in England.
July 4th – General Election – Labour elected
July 17th – King’s Speech, including the announcement of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill
Sept 24th – At the Labour conference in Liverpool, Rachel Reeves announces 750 schools will launch breakfast clubs from April 2025
July 5th – Magic Breakfast writes open letter to Sir Keir Starmer and the new Labour government
July 18th – Breakfast Powers Opportunity campaign launch
July – Magic Breakfast shares best practice and guidance to civil servants, new ministers, and MPs to help their policy development.
July 28th – Party conference season begins, Magic Breakfast brings Breakfast Powers Opportunity to all 4 conferences
Sept 5th – Teacher Tapp survey results published
Early September – Magic Breakfast submits recommendations to the Treasury ahead of the Autumn Budget
Sept 13th – What is the Children’s Wellbeing Bill and what does it have to do with school breakfasts?
October 11th – Launch of Magic Breakfast’s letter urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to include Secondary schools in the upcoming budget announcement
As we reflect on the past 100 days, we celebrate this strong start towards ending child morning hunger, and look forward to the Government reaching further…
- Legislating for different types of breakfast provision beyond traditional breakfast clubs, such as classroom breakfast, grab and go, and nurture groups, so that it can reach more children most at risk of morning hunger and make it possible for schools to deliver.
- Covering the cost of support staff to advise and support schools, which has been shown to maximise pupil uptake at scale, particularly for the most disadvantaged pupils.
- Covering all primary aged pupils, not just primary schools (i.e. encompassing Pupil Referral Units, Specialist Schools, Alternative Provision, and SEND schools).
- Allocating funding for disadvantaged secondary school students in the forthcoming Autumn Budget. Hunger doesn’t stop when a child turns 11 years old, and with the National School Breakfast Programme ending in July 2025, tens of thousands of secondary school students in our most disadvantaged communities will lose the free breakfasts they rely on.
