Khan, who received free school meals as a child, has stepped forward with an emergency £135m to help 270,000 primary schoolchildren in London receive free school meals from September 2023.
Some schools and councils are worried about the practical difficulties of implementing free school meals. London councils are self-funding kitchen improvements and the possible loss of pupil premium funding is also worrying some schools.
Boroughs are set to receive £2.65 per meal in funding, which is higher than the amount they currently receive from Government. The Government has recently increased its funding to £2.53 per meal. According to BBC News, some schools are in catering contracts where they are being charged more than £2.65 per meal so they will have to make up the shortfall.
Lewisham Council invested £650,000 from their own budget to purchase new ovens, fridges and other kitchen improvements.
The ‘biggest concern’ is the impact of the free school meals expansion will have on pupil premium funding. Schools are worried that if eligible families now get free school meals automatically they won’t apply for them which reduces the money schools get from the Government.
Khan told BBC News: "The conversations we've had with [Islington, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Westminster Councils] reassure me that by working with schools, councils, parents and carers we'll make sure all parents fill in the right forms so the schools may actually see an uplift from the pupil premium.
"I originally announced £130m. I have increased that to £135m because we have been doing a lot of work with schools and we've undertaken an equality assessment with particular faith communities to make sure there's enough money in the kitty so that every child in primary school, for the first time ever, will have a free school meal."