free school meals but not with working tax, why?

rosalie-lavender

Check through all the figures on the claim for council tax benefit and check they have the correct earnings down. The council have made two mistakes on ours over the years with the imputting income. On the first occasion they put my monthy wage down as weekly and another time they put our child tax credit down as a weekly figure instead of monthly.

Both mistakes made that part of the income look like it was four times as much as it actually was.

[Deleted User]

The income level criteria isn't there for those who are working, it's for those who dont work - so obviously don't get WTC - but have other income coming in.

You don't qualify because you are working 16+ hours p/w.

There are rules for all benefits and entitlements so why argue? You may not like that you don't qualify but that's life.

I don't qualify for WTC even though I work 30+ hours p/w and I am over 25. I meet the criteria but then they look at my income level which is above the threshold. 2 out of 3 means I get nothing.

Snakeeyes21

Give them a slice of buttered bread, a bottle of water and a pack of tesco value crisps, thats what i used to get, if they moan give them a slap (i also got those) and say people are starving in africa.

notlongnow_2

I understand your point OP but I dont understand why it is unfair that people on CTC can claim free school meals but people on WTC cant. Surely if someone claims WTC they are working and getting extra money to top up their wage from WTC, but people on only CTC tax credit arent.

CTC=not as much money therefore are etitled to free meals.
CTC+WTC= moremoney coming into the house and arent entitled to free meals.

Im not having a go, im really not, and I know what its like to struggle, but I wouldnt expect to be able to claim free meals if I was getting CTC and WTC.

I think you should be entitled to free meals because your partner has unfortunately lost his job, and there should be some kind of temporary claim available until your partner is in a better job situation. After all, going from two wages to one is very difficult, and you still have your children to feed.

Good luck to you.

TotallyBroke

Valli wrote: »

This is from Direct Gov
Free school lunches

Parents do not have to pay for school lunches if they receive any of the following:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) that does not exceed £16,040
• Working Tax Credit during the four-week period immediately after their employment finishes or after they start to work less than 16 hours per week

Children who receive Income Support or income-based Job Seeker's Allowance in their own right qualify as well. All pupils who do not qualify for free school lunches must be charged the same amount for the same quantity of the same item.


It might be worth checking you're getting your full WFTC entitlement.

I wonder what would happen if someone was in my position. I do not get WTC as I earn too much but I do get some childcare element of WTC. So would I say I do not get WTC, which I don't, or do I have to say I do get WTC because I get the childcare element.
Obviously I will look on the website myself but I wonder if this is a potential loophole.

Edit: Re-read the above again and realised that if you earned less than the £16,040 you would be entitled to WTC if you were not entitled to WTC you would earn more that £16,040. Sorry to waste a post.....

Becles

notlongnow wrote: »

I understand your point OP but I dont understand why it is unfair that people on CTC can claim free school meals but people on WTC cant. Surely if someone claims WTC they are working and getting extra money to top up their wage from WTC, but people on only CTC tax credit arent.

CTC=not as much money therefore are etitled to free meals.
CTC+WTC= moremoney coming into the house and arent entitled to free meals.

It depends on the circumstances. When I was a single parent, I first claimed IS and CTC. Then I got a part time job earning £100 a week plus WTC and CTC. I was coming out with roughly the same income per week, but lost my entitlement to free school dinners.

[Deleted User]

i took a part time job at 17 hours a week during school hours.
i have 5 children and by the time i had paid for school meals for them i was actually better off on income support , with my rent being paid in full .
however i realise that the children are better off with a mum who works only when they are at school , and jobs are not that easy to come by so i chose to work.
however i cannot afford school dinners so i send them in with a packed lunch which means the time after school is spent making a cooked dinner and cleaning up after it , rather than spending quality time with my children.

notlongnow_2

mummyof5 wrote: »

i took a part time job at 17 hours a week during school hours.
i have 5 children and by the time i had paid for school meals for them i was actually better off on income support , with my rent being paid in full .
however i realise that the children are better off with a mum who works only when they are at school , and jobs are not that easy to come by so i chose to work.
however i cannot afford school dinners so i send them in with a packed lunch which means the time after school is spent making a cooked dinner and cleaning up after it , rather than spending quality time with my children.

Mummyof5....do you have a slow cooker? They are fab! chuck it all in the pot in the morning and it'll be ready for when the children come home.

I have 2 school age children annd I too cant afford for them both to have school dinners (plus I thnk they are a rip off for the cack they serve)

[Deleted User]

no i don't have a slow cooker but that does sound like a great idea ...........................................
skulking off to the o/s board now to get some ideas :rotfl:
thankyou x

Becles

Look at meals that you can cook quick too, or stuff you can prepare the night before.

You can make casseroles, stews, shepherds pie, lasagne - that kind of thing and prep the veg on an evening, then warm it up and turn the veg on to cook at tea time.

You could cut up the veg and meat for curries, chinese, pasta dishes the night before, then just throw it in a pan and cook it while the rice/noodles/pasta cooks. That would only take up to 15 mins cooking time.

Slow cookers are brilliant too.

Think about batch cooking too. I normally do huge lasagnes, bolognaise and chilli's and freeze half so on another day, it just needs warming up.