It’s back-to-school season and Labour is helping families save up to £8000 a year

Free breakfast clubs being rolled out to every primary school

300 new school-based nurseries

30 hours free childcare for working parents

New student concessions on Bee Network buses

Capped school uniform costs

Over £2 billion extra investment going into the early years sector

Schools are back for the new academic year next wee and we know cost-of-living pressures are still affecting working families. That’s why have been implementing measures in our first year in government to support parents.

The rollout of free breakfast clubs began in April in a number of primary schools, including Whitegate End, Richmond Academy, Westwood Academy and Northmoor Academy in this constituency. These breakfast clubs mean that every child in those schools will now start their day with a healthy breakfast and at least 30 minutes of free childcare.

The IGO Pass and the Our Pass will continue meaning 11-16 year olds can travel using discounted child tickets on buses & trams and 16-18 year-olds get free local bus travel in Greater Manchester. From next week, there will be a new 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟏𝟖 𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟏 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 as well.

Looking ahead to next year, we have a plan to cut costs further. From September 2026, we will be expanding access to free school meals across the country, which is set to 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝟏𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲. With Labour, over half a million more children will get free school meals because any child in England whose parents are on Universal Credit will be eligible.

This will mean the 9800 children in Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton between years 3-11 who are in families currently claiming universal credit will benefit from the extension. We’re giving every child, no matter their background, the nutrition they need to learn, grow and thrive from an early age.

We are proud that the last Labour government took almost 1 million children out of poverty. However, 14 years of Tory chaos and decline led to us reaching record levels of child poverty in the months before they left office. However, this new government is acting to tackle child poverty head on through our recently launched Child Poverty Taskforce and these measures to cut costs for hard-working families.