Free school meals and working tax credit

Dontknowanymore

Dory78 wrote: »

Hate to bring this up but I qualify for WTC and my daughter is now entitled to FSM, however my circumstances changed recently and I am now a single parent on a part time salary so maybe this is why?

How so? what area do you live in. In the 3 areas I have lived in in the past year, it's all the same: taken from a random website http://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk/main.nsf/Web+Full+List/6E8AF7087319726680256F31004B2152?OpenDocument

You are entitled to Free School Meals for your children if you receive:

• Income Support, or
• Job Seeker's Allowance (Income Based), or
• State Pension Credit (Guaranteed Credit), or
• Employment and Support Allowance (Income Related) , or
• Child Tax Credit and have an annual gross income as assessed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs which does not exceed £16,190.00.

You will not be entitled to Free School Meals If you, or your partner, receive any Working Tax Credit on a regular basis.

However, from the 1st May 2009 where a parent is entitled to Working TaxCredit RunOn during the four week period immediately after their employment ceases, or after they start to work less than 16 hours per week, their children are entitled to Free School Meals.

coffeeandfags wrote: »

The threshold is something like £120 a week. If you earn more than that you dont qualify for free meals. If you earn under it you do.

I'd like to know in which area this runs in as as I alreay said, it's not in all of them.

coffeeandfags

Dontknowanymore wrote: »

I'd like to know in which area this runs in as as I alreay said, it's not in all of them.

Ahh, i didnt realise that. I thought it was the same for all!!
Im in Aberdeenshire. I dont get the free meals, but i know that this was the state of play last April when i applied for the Uniform Grant which i do get

Sambucus_Nigra

spoonk1 wrote: »

So how do you not be entitled to wtc ? i thought every one that works gets some amount of wtc.

Everyone? Surely you didn't really think that....

Dontknowanymore

coffeeandfags wrote: »

Ahh, i didnt realise that. I thought it was the same for all!!
Im in Aberdeenshire. I dont get the free meals, but i know that this was the state of play last April when i applied for the Uniform Grant which i do get

I did think after posting that I thought it was different for Scotland

coffeeandfags

Dontknowanymore wrote: »

I did think after posting that I thought it was different for Scotland

Thats a bit pants and totally unfair aint it? I know the cost of living up here is higher, but still .....

thor

Sixer wrote: »

Ah - interesting! Cheers.

What definitely *has* gone up, is the amount paid to the poorer end of the people who qualify. I would maintain that's the main source of the increase - the extra support for the low paid, not so much the number of people benefiting from new tax credits compared to old tax allowances. Plus the allowances were small and tax credits, in some cases, are large.

One could argue it's the fault of employers for not paying enough?! And this is the source of the problems some people have with immigration, non? The depression of wages.

Yes it is and at the risk of sounding like a 'commie' maybe also those at the top paying themselves ever higher slaries at their expense. If the gap between them was not so wide perhaps there would not be any need for tax credits.
It would have been even worse had the NMW not been brought in.

mma_ramotswe

I think to get FSM both me and my wife would need to work less than 16 hours a week so as not to qualify for WTC . So if you earn so little that you can't afford to eat at least your children might survive on the FSM.