• Labour government pushes ahead with Plan for Change with ‘best start in life’ objective
• Comes as new research reveals 110,706 primary school children in Birmingham could benefit from free breakfast clubs
Families in Birmingham will soon be able to access quality before-school childcare ahead as Labour pushes ahead with Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill to roll out free breakfast clubs across the country.
Today (21/01/25), Preet Kaur Gill MP has demanded that children in Birmingham get the ‘best start in life’ ahead of the Labour government’s rollout of free breakfast clubs for children in primary schools.
It comes as new research reveals that 110,706 children in Birmingham could benefit from free breakfast clubs, boosting their attendance, attainment, readiness to learn, wellbeing and behaviour. In addition, the clubs are set to support parents to work the jobs and hours they choose, less restricted by school drop-offs and saving them money on childcare.
Last month, Gill wrote to every primary school in the constituency encouraging them to become early adopters to the breakfast club scheme.
The MP’s intervention follows Second Reading of Labour’s Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill, new legislation to ensure children and families have access to a free breakfast club at their local primary school. Ministers have kick-started the programme through an early adopter scheme, with applications having opened in November 2024 and rollout being delivered from April 2025. Funding was provided at Labour’s Budget to fix the foundations and deliver change, which tripled investment in breakfast clubs to over £33 million.
The breakfast clubs form part of Labour’s mission to break the unfair link between background and opportunity. To set tangible targets that make a difference to the lives of working people, the Prime Minister recently unveiled his Plan for Change, with the relevant metric for the Opportunity Mission being to deliver ‘the best start in life’. The Labour government has pledged to get a record proportion of children school-ready – hitting key targets on personal, social and physical development as well as communication, literacy and maths.
Preet Kaur Gill, MP for Birmingham, Edgbaston, said:
“Through my conversations on the doorstep, I’ve learnt just how valuable breakfast clubs will be for families in Birmingham, boosting attendance and attainment as well as keeping money in parents’ pockets.
“That’s why it’s a shame these clubs were only available in one in ten schools under the Conservatives. Labour will make them available to every child.
“It’s clear to see that this is a child-centred Labour government, determined to give children in Birmingham the best start in life.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
“Breakfast clubs boost parents’ work choices as well as children’s life chances, they are integral to this government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity so where you come from doesn’t determine where you end up in life.
“From helping with flexible working for families, to improving behaviour and attendance, the supportive start to the day that breakfast clubs provide will help drive high and rising standards for every child.
“This Labour government has a Plan for Change that will give children growing up in our country the best start in life.”
The Labour government’s wider funded wraparound childcare offer – for all primary children to be able to access childcare between 8am-6pm – continues to roll out across the country.
Labour is also developing an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty and give children the best start in life, which will be published in Spring 2025. The Taskforce led by the Work and Pensions Secretary and Education Secretary are looking at all available levers across government to drive forward short-term and long-term actions to reduce child poverty.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
• Department for Education newsdesk contactable at 020 7783 8300.
• Department for Education latest press release on breakfast club early adopters, containing quotes from Chief Executive of Family Action and Willow Bank Primary School headteacher here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/schools-urged-to-sign-up-forfree-breakfast-club-rollout.
• The existing National Schools Breakfast Club programme will continue Y25/26 to provide support to the most disadvantaged children.
Relevant data
The table below shows the number of children in each primary school year group broken down by local authority, once totaled it reveals the number of children in your area set to benefit from the rollout of the scheme. For example: ‘over 21,000 children across primary schools in Sunderland to benefit from Labour’s free breakfast clubs’ You can access the table here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/datatables/permalink/006656eb-7f2e-4a58-0fe2-08dd167ca495.
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