Universal free school meals (FSM) should be targeted at areas serving high numbers of disadvantaged young people, a new report claims.

Data from more than 60,000 pupils across the Bradford district showed 57 per cent of those identified as being persistently absent from school are eligible for FSM.

Children eligible for FSM were three times more likely to become persistently absent at some point over their school career, compared to their peers who did not receive FSM.

The report suggests that children growing up in poverty are likely to be at “increased risk” of not attending school.

Former children’s commissioner Anne Longfield said schools should no longer have to use “sticking plaster solutions” to tackle child poverty as she called for greater investment.

The report from her Centre for Young Lives think tank, in partnership with the Child of the North, contains a series of recommendations on how to reduce the impact of child poverty on millions of children.

The Government said there are already "generous provisions",  claiming to have doubled the number of free school meals since 2010.

It calls for universal free school meals to be initially “targeted” at schools in boroughs and wards with the most disadvantaged populations.

The report said the targeted approach would help level up communities with the “most entrenched” poverty.

It says: “The data already exists to allow councils to identify the schools serving those children in the greatest poverty.

“Universal free school meals should be a long term ambition for all schools, but we should start by initially targeting schools in local areas with the most disadvantaged children and young people.”

The report comes after free school meals were extended to every pupil in state primary schools in London this academic year to help struggling families during the cost of living crisis.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has since announced that the policy will run for a second school year.

Who is eligible for free school meals?

Children in state schools in England are currently only entitled to receive FSM if a parent or carer receives one of a number of benefits.

All children at state schools in England are entitled to free school lunches in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.

Currently, families who claim Universal Credit (UC) are only eligible for FSM if their family’s post-tax earnings are less than £7,400 a year.

The report calls for FSM to be expanded to children in all families receiving UC and for automatic registration of eligible families for FSM to be “implemented immediately”.

Ms Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said: “Schools are on the frontline of the battle against child poverty but are overwhelmed by what is being asked of them.

“We need to give our schools and school leaders the tools – and, crucially, the funding – they need to poverty-proof their schools.”

What has the Government said?

A Government spokesperson said: “We have extended eligibility for free school meals to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century and have doubled the number of free school meals since 2010 from just one sixth to more than one third."

The spokesperson added: "There are generous protections in place to ensure that children who need it keep their free school meal entitlement even if their household circumstances change."

Cost of living support - such as the Household Support Fund - and changes to inflation are also helping the most vulnerable, the spokesperson said.