Setting the record straight on free school meals:
No child who needs a free school meal will lose one

That is our guarantee, and it is what value for money and a city that works for all looks like in practice: focusing what we have on the people who need it most.

From September, the Government is expanding free school meal eligibility to every child in a family on Universal Credit, scrapping the old £7,400 income cap. That is Labour's own national policy. We are aligning Westminster's secondary offer with it.

What ends is our universal top-up, which also paid for meals for families who don't claim Universal Credit and can comfortably afford to pay. Almost no other London borough does that. Camden, Brent, Lambeth and Southwark all limit support to families who meet the national test. We are bringing Westminster into line.

This is Labour's mess, twice over.

• Locally: the last Labour administration raided £19 million from the council's reserves to fund a pre-election council tax freeze gimmick, storing up a bill for whoever came next.
• Nationally: Labour's own Government is now cutting £100 million from Westminster's funding over the next four years.

We inherited both. We will not pass the bill to residents by keeping free meals for families who can afford to pay, while services for those who need help most are squeezed.

If your family gets Universal Credit, you are still covered. Register, or re-register, through your child's school or the council's website.

We are continuing to fund an expanded Holiday Activities and Food programme through the rest of this year, including half terms, and extending the school uniform grant for children starting reception and Year 7. Families who need further support are encouraged to get in touch with our Family Hub services or the council's Crisis and Resilience Fund.

We won't pretend this is the last difficult decision this council has to make. With a £100 million cut to our funding and the mess we inherited, further tough choices on the budget lie ahead. We will keep being straight with residents about them, and keep focusing what we have on the people who need it most.

We are happy to work with a Labour Government to support the children and young people who need it most. Our children's future shouldn't also be about politics.