Reducing hours to become eligible for free school meals

sprogs

I have just discovered that the annual income threshold for free school meals has risen from £14,485 to £15,575. I am still waiting for my P60s to do this years renewal, but last year I was working 30 hours a week and my total income from my 2 jobs was £15,500. £500 of that was an honararium for an extra responsibilty I took on for a year that has finished now. I have three children, as of September children who are entitled to free meals and live 2 miles from school (we are 2.8 miles) also get free school bus travel (at the moment that costs me £2.90 per day for 2 children) it looks like it would be worth dropping an hour per week to get the free school meals and associated benefits. The meals are actually very good at junior school and at secondary school they get the credit loaded onto their smart card to buy whatever they like - hot dinner, sandwich or salad bar. And I wouldn't have to make 3 lunches every morning!!!:rotfl:

I tried putting last years income of £15,500 and working 29 hours per week into the tax credits website but it still came up with working tax credit of around £29 per year. And if you get working tax credit you don't get the free school meals. I thought if you worked less than 30 hours per week you were no longer eligible for working tax credit.

Any ideas please?

Another question about tax credits and working hours - I have 2 jobs, my second job is home based. I work as a home based telephonist and get paid a sum of money to stay at home and have the company number diverted to my home number. I 'work' 1 evening a week and one weekend per month. But what I actually do is carry on as normal with the cooking, housework, ironing etc. and just answer the phone in the company name if it rings and deal with the call as needed. I probably spend less than an hour an evening and 2 hours a day 'working'. How should this be reflected in terms of actual work - I have to be in the house for 8 hours a day and all evening, but don't actually work for all of that time, only about a quarter of it, so that could possibly hold the key to getting the number of hours I work down. In my main job I actually work 22 hours per week.

Jules

sprogs wrote: »

I tried putting last years income of £15,500 and working 29 hours per week into the tax credits website but it still came up with working tax credit of around £29 per year. And if you get working tax credit you don't get the free school meals. I thought if you worked less than 30 hours per week you were no longer eligible for working tax credit.

Working Tax Credits is paid if you work over 16 hours. You would have to reduce your hours below 16 and go onto Income Support to get the free school meals - that's what I was told.

I personally think the fact that your on Tax Credits shouldn't do you out of the Free School Meals but it does. My income before TC is £7800 but because I claim Working Tax Credits I don't get the Free School Meals. Even with the TC added on my income comes nowhere near their thresh hold.

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

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• 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 £15,575
• the Guarantee element of State Pension Credit

Taken from the Tax Credts website - "Working Tax Credit is paid to the person who is working 16 hours or more a week."

It just doesn't seem fair that you get penalised for working, oh well.

elaine373

I totally agree with jules.Once you are off income based jobseekers/income support you lose the right to have free school meals for your children.(I was told this some time ago)
This week I have started working, and have had to tell my childrens school this information as I will working 18 hours and will no longer be able to receive free school meals. With 3 children at primary school, this is an instant loss of 28.50 per week . Whilst i do not expect others to feed my children, this is hardly an eccentive to work.It will have to be Packed lunches for my children, at least until my wage is coming in.(And they are not cheap either!)

sprogs

Jules wrote: »

Taken from the Tax Credts website - "Working Tax Credit is paid to the person who is working 16 hours or more a week."

It just doesn't seem fair that you get penalised for working, oh well.

The full quote from the Tax Credits website says:

Working Tax Credit is for people who are employed or self-employed (either on their own or in a partnership), who

• usually work 16 hours or more a week
• are paid for that work, and
• expect to work for at least 4 weeks

and who are

• aged 16 or over and responsible for at least one child, or
• aged 16 or over and disabled, or
• aged 25 or over and usually work at least 30 hours a week

The way I read that is that as I am over 25, but would be working 29 hours a week I fail to meet the second criteria and therefore am not eligible for working tax credit - or am I missing something else here? Maybe I should just phone them and ask how I work the system to my advantage! I fail to see how £29 a year will pay for school meals that cost £2 a day for 3 children, apparently WTC has an element in it for school meals?!

sprogs

sprogs wrote: »

The full quote from the Tax Credits website says:

Working Tax Credit is for people who are employed or self-employed (either on their own or in a partnership), who

• usually work 16 hours or more a week
• are paid for that work, and
• expect to work for at least 4 weeks

and who are

• aged 16 or over and responsible for at least one child, or
• aged 16 or over and disabled, or
• aged 25 or over and usually work at least 30 hours a week

The way I read that is that as I am over 25, but would be working 29 hours a week I fail to meet the second criteria and therefore am not eligible for working tax credit - or am I missing something else here? Maybe I should just phone them and ask how I work the system to my advantage! I fail to see how £29 a year will pay for school meals that cost £2 a day for 3 children, apparently WTC has an element in it for school meals?!

Have answered my own question - I do meet the second criteria as I am also over 16 and responsible for at least one child, silly me :wall:

What makes it more frustrating is that I work term time only, so although I work 22 hours a week, I work and get paid for 39 weeks of the year - which means I get the same monthly pay as somebody working 16 and a half hours a week.

PasturesNew

sprogs wrote: »

Have answered my own question - I do meet the second criteria as I am also over 16 and responsible for at least one child, silly me

What makes it more frustrating is that I work term time only, so although I work 22 hours a week, I work and get paid for 39 weeks of the year - which means I get the same monthly pay as somebody working 16 and a half hours a week.

I'd have thought you should average out what you earn/the hours over the tax year and use the weekly/monthly figures. Not put in the figures for earnings/hours in the weeks you do work.

sprogs

No, unfortunately they use the hours that you work during term time - I had a long discussion with them about this last year.

woozywendy

Do you work in a school ? I work lunch times term time only and they average my hours out over the year.

sprogs

woozywendy wrote: »

Do you work in a school ? I work lunch times term time only and they average my hours out over the year.

Yes, I do work in a school. I work term time only but my pay is calculated and paid over 12 months (love the August pay packet when I haven't been at work at all....)

However, for tax credits you have to tell them the hours you usually work each week while at school. There is a guide that explains it here:

http://www.cpag.org.uk/cro/tax-credits/term_time_only_workers.htm

I don't think that is fair for term time only workers and did this experiment:

For Employee A that works 15 and a half hours a week all year it is equivalent to 806 hours per year. Employee B works in a school for 20 hours a week but term time only which is equivalent to 800 hours per year. They get paid for 800 hours a year but this is calculated and paid monthly over the course of 12 months.
Employee A and Employee B both earn £15000 per year and have one child
If you put these figures into the tax credits calculator Employee A would be entitled to £2862 child tax credit per year and would also be eligible for free school meals. Employee B would be eligible for the same amount of child tax credit, but would also get £227 per year in working tax credit therefore making her ineligible for free school meals. Her child's school meals cost £2 a day which is £400 a year, so although she receives the working tax credit she is technically £173 a year worse off than Employee A. This has happened because the tax credit system is based on the number of hours you work per week and makes you enter the hours you work during term time as your usual hours, when in fact you only work these hours for 40 weeks of the year but are paid them over 52.

On top of this Employee A would probably get uniform grants and other help with school expenses.

Maybe I am looking at this wrongly and have made a mistake - but it doesn't look like the system is treating 2 people that work virtually the same number of hours each year and earn the same amount in the same way.