The government has been accused of potentially sending thousands of small primary schools into financial trouble by quietly scrapping the funding that allows them to afford to provide free school meals for their pupils. 

As many as 2,867 small primary schools across England and Wales are currently receiving £2,300 extra in funding per year so they can afford these meals, but the government is looking to scrap this "additional support" as a way of saving as much as £32.5 million. 

The Department for Education said this additional budget was always intended to be little more than a temporary kickstarter for the universal free meals programme, but the government has been criticised for plans to take it away, with many saying these smaller schools will now need to cut budgets elsewhere to be able to afford to provide pupils with a hot meal. 

Sharon Hodgson, shadow minister for children, said the move went against the previous sounds coming out of Westminster, with the prime minister David Cameron having said that he was proud of the scheme to provide free nutritional meals to all primary age pupils. 

"Once again David Cameron's rhetoric doesn't match the reality," she told the Independent. 

"School budgets are already under a lot of pressure with rising costs and shrinking budgets. Small schools are often especially hard pressed. 

"The prime minister should act to ensure the education of children, and the financial viability of small schools is not put at risk."

Andy Jolley, a former school governor and blogger, also suggested that even with the help they are receiving, some smaller schools with less than 150 pupils were already struggling to be able to afford meals.

“Schools are already dealing with extremely tight budgets. This will have a devastating effect on some of these small schools," he said, criticising the quiet way in which the government appears to be trying to remove this additional budget.