UK Expansion Faces Gaps; Indonesia School Meals Outbreaks

The UK will extend free school meals to all households on Universal Credit from September 2026, adding about 500,000 children, but a Food Foundation–sponsored report found roughly 290,000 under-fives will be excluded because most nurseries and childcare settings are not covered and only about 4% of children in formal childcare are expected to receive meals. Education Policy Institute and campaigners have urged a national, centralised auto-enrolment system, removal of problematic pre/post‑lunch eligibility rules for early years, and simpler registration for families with no recourse to public funds, warning eligible children could still miss out; parents report acute financial strain paying for nursery meals despite being on Universal Credit. Separately, Indonesia’s national school‑meal roll‑out has been hit by food‑poisoning outbreaks — one West Java district reported more than 1,300 children fell ill and authorities say thousands have been affected nationwide — prompting suspensions of production kitchens and calls to pause or replace the programme with cash transfers. Both stories underscore that expanding meal programmes requires simultaneous action on registration, resourcing, safety and supply‑chain oversight to ensure children are neither left hungry nor put at risk.