- More parents in Portsmouth could save up to £450 and 95 hours per year as Labour’s free breakfast club set to target less well off areas
- Applications open today for the first 500 to start in April 2026, with 17 schools in Portsmouth encouraged to apply
- 1,500 more schools to join the programme in September 2026
- To expand the variety of healthy breakfast options at clubs, funding rate to rise
Half a million more children nationwide will benefit from Best Start free breakfast clubs from April, as the MPs for Portsmouth have called on local schools to sign up.
Applications open today for the next wave of 500 schools to benefit from the programme, as Labour invests £80 million in the right places to give every child the best start in life – recognising that a healthy, well-educated population is essential for a thriving economy.
The move is the latest step in Labour’s plan for national renewal, offering help immediately to working parents juggling childcare by giving them back up to 95 hours of time – over two and a half working weeks each year. That’s money back in pockets and time back in busy lives, helping families get by whilst ensuring children are ready to learn and succeed.
By prioritising schools with the highest proportion of pupils on free school meals the rollout ensures the real-life impact of free breakfast clubs goes first to where it is most needed.
As a crucial part of the Plan for Change, a further 1,500 schools will start in September 2026, with applications due to open in January, altogether helping to extend benefits to over 200,000 more underprivileged children in a little over a year of the programme launching.
Stephen Morgan MP for Portsmouth South said:
“I was proud to be the Education Minister that started Labour’s plan for free breakfast clubs, and as MP I’m proud to offer this opportunity to more Portsmouth schools as the Government rolls out our plans for every primary school in the country.
“Free breakfast clubs show the difference Labour governments make – stronger public services, better support for working parents, more opportunity for children.
“I’ve encouraged schools across Portsmouth to bid to join the next wave and when they do, I’ll back them every step of the way.”
MP for Portsmouth North, Amanda Martin, added:
“From my conversations with families and teachers across our city I know how much difference free breakfast clubs can make, for extra time at the start of the day, for household finances, for children’s life chances.”
“It’s brilliant to see clear Labour choices being made – prioritising support to those for hardworking families who need it.”
“I’ll be working with schools across Portsmouth, backing their bids to get Best Start clubs from next year.”
Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson said:
“This is national renewal in action – breaking down barriers so every child gets the best start in life, regardless of their background.
“By rolling out free breakfast clubs to half a million more children, we’re not just filling empty stomachs, we’re supercharging the nation’s morning routines.
“This is about building a country where background doesn’t mean destiny, where we invest in our children’s futures, and where we deliver the real change working families desperately need.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:
“Our free breakfast clubs are ensuring over half a million more children don’t start the school day hungry, and save working parents around £450 a year.
“We’re launching this in the parts of the country that need it most — helping to bring bills down for families across Britain.
“But we know there’s more to do, which is why at my Budget I’ll make the fair decisions to cut NHS waiting lists, cut national debt and cut the cost of living.”
Labour has increased the per child funding rate has for mainstream schools, making good on its commitment to roll out clubs with a variety of healthy meals.
Schools will also receive a guaranteed £25 a day to cover staffing and admin so every type of school can easily deliver a breakfast club. For an average school with 50% take up, the total funding package has increased by 28%.
It builds on consistent, tough choices to prioritise investment into to help families with the cost of living such as expanding free school meals to every family on Universal Credit, lifting 100,000 children out of poverty, and introducing 30 hours free childcare to working parents, saving them up to £7,500 per year.
This follows the latest parent polling shows more than one in three parents (38%) find it difficult to give their child a healthy breakfast before school, with fussy eating (36%) and time (28%) being the main barriers.
With 5 million free breakfasts already served, the clubs are already helping ensure a child’s background will never be a barrier to opportunity. Changing morning routines will not only help ensure no child starts the day hungry but boost attendance, attainment and future life chances. Among children aged 5-7, breakfast clubs have been proven to boost average attainment by the equivalent of 2 months’ progress in maths, reading and writing.
By saving even more parents up to £450 per year, money is going back into communities so they can choose how to spend it. The targeted approach drives more security, respect and opportunity back into society so families and kids can get on in life.
The test and learn phase saw 5 million free breakfasts successfully delivered up and down the country, helping to provide a soft supportive start to children and a lifeline to working parents.
In a landmark move to go even further, the government’s pro-business approach has secured new industry partnerships with Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Weetabix as well as Magic Breakfast until July 2026. This will ensure top British brands can help schools benefit from discounts and free deliveries and kids to have access to healthier, varied meals.
This follows consistent, tough choices to prioritise investment into children’s health and set them up for the best start in life, such as revising the School Food Standards and expanding free school meals to every family on Universal Credit, lifting 100,000 children out of poverty.
It comes ahead of the upcoming Child Poverty Strategy, where every lever related to employment, housing, children’s health, childcare and education will be examined to improve children’s life chances.
