Up to 287,000 primary school pupils across London are expected to receive free lunches through a £135m programme, new figures reveal.
The programme, announced by the the mayor of London in February, will operate on a universal basis throughout the 2023/24 academic year.
The borough with the highest number of children to benefit is Barnet, where 13,495 pupils will receive the meals.
Kensington and Chelsea will receive the fewest lunches with 2,539 children.
While not technically a borough, the programme is also being rolled out to schoolchildren in the City of London with a total of 113 pupils entitled to the meals there.
City Hall said families would save "upwards of £440 per child".
The government already provides free school meals on a universal basis for children up to and including Year 2.
After that point, the government only provides lunches to children from households receiving certain benefits.
For households on universal credit, they must earn less than £7,400 a year - after tax and not including benefits, and regardless of the number of children in the family - in order for their children to be eligible for the meals.
