Clothing grants and free school meals

If you have a child who attends a South Lanarkshire school they are entitled to free school meals if you receive any of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Job Seeker's Allowance
• Income-based Employment and Support Allowance
• Scottish Child Payment (P6 and P7 pupils)
• Scottish Child Payment (S1 to S3 pupils only - please see below) 
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 
• Universal Credit (and your earned income is less than £850 as assessed by the Department for Work and Pensions in the assessment period immediately preceding the application for free school meals)

Scottish Child Payment

As part of the Scottish Government's 'Test of Change' pilot, and as part of a trial initiative affecting four local schools, you can apply for free school meals if you receive the Scottish Child Payment for a child in S1 to S3 attending one of the schools below:

• Calderglen High School
• Trinity High School
• Lesmahagow High School
• Larkhall Academy

Please note: if your child qualifies for Free School Meals under the Scottish Child Payment eligibility criteria, you will not be entitled to receive payments for meals during the school holidays.

To check the eligibility criteria for clothing grants, please see the Eligibility section on our Clothing grant page.

Free school meals could save you approximately £376 per academic year. Entitlement can be checked at schools from the beginning of term.

If you are in receipt of Housing Benefit and/or *Council Tax Reduction from South Lanarkshire Council and you have a child who attends a school in South Lanarkshire, do not complete our online application. We will use the information we hold to automatically award free school meals to eligible families. 

*Single person discount on your Council Tax is not classed as Council Tax Reduction. If you are receiving single person discount on your Council Tax, you should still apply for a clothing grant/free school meals. Universal Credit recipients should only apply online if they are not receiving Council Tax Reduction.

Evidence

The following will be required with your online application (if relevant):

• Universal Credit - screenshots of all sections of your most recent online Payment Statement showing the following:
  • Name and address
  • Amount being paid and date of assessment period
  • All entitlement and deduction figures
• Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction - your most recent award letter (not applicable if you live in South Lanarkshire)

If you do not provide all the required pages of your Universal Credit statement, this could cause a delay in your application being processed.

Please note: in some circumstances, you may be asked to provide proof of child benefit as noted below.

• Child Benefit award letter or Bank statement showing your name, address and Child Benefit payment details

Please have your evidence (where applicable) ready to upload before you begin.

If you have been asked to provide evidence to support an application that you have already made for a clothing grant or free school meals, you can submit this using our online form. 

If you need help with uploading evidence, see our guidance on uploading files to online forms.

If you have received a letter advising you to provide your bank details for your free school meals (FSM) holiday payment (or clothing grant payment), please click on the BACS details (FSM holiday payments) button below to provide this information.