Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed the government will provide an extra £170m to fund free schools to disadvantaged children during the Christmas holidays.

Footballer Marcus Rashford who launched the free school meals campaign earlier this year when schools closed in March has welcomed the government's change of heart over free school meals.

 Rashford said it would improve the lives of almost 1.7 million children.

The move represents a U-turn for the government, which had said Universal Credit was the best way to help. The government is to spend more than £400m to support poor children and their families in England.

A winter grant scheme, to be run by councils, will provide support with food and bills, and a holiday food and activities programme is to be expanded. They will receive funding from the beginning of December until the end of March.

The holiday food and activities programme will be expanded with a £220m investment to cover Easter, summer and Christmas in 2021. A 16m cash boost will also be given to food banks all over the UK.

The prime minister called the footballer on Saturday evening to confirm the new plans.

It was the second time the star had forced the government to change course this year. On the previous occasion, which last month earned Rashford an MBE, No. 10 had initially rejected his plea for it to keep paying for £15-a-week food vouchers for some of England’s poorest families over the summer, only to cave in amid a public outcry.

"The steps made today will improve the lives of near 1.7 million children in the UK over the next 12 months, and that can only be celebrated."

"There is still so much more to do, and my immediate concern is the approximate 1.7 million children who miss out on free school meals, holiday provision and Healthy Start vouchers because their family income isn't quite low enough, but the intent the Government have shown today is nothing but positive and they should be recognised for that."

"I am fully committed to this cause, and I will fight for the rest of my life for it, because in my mind, no child should ever go hungry in the United Kingdom," the player said.

Seeing the role everyone had played in supporting the most vulnerable children had been "the greatest moment of my life," he added.

Education Secretary Justine Greening has announced schools across England are to receive a £2.4 billion cash injection to cope with struggling school places and building repairs.

 Since 2010 nearly 735,000 additional school places have been created, however a further 230,000 are needed between 2017 and 2020 to keep pace with a rising school-age population. The new funding will also support the extra classrooms in existing grammar schools, this is separate to the plans of . £1.4bn will be spent on improving 1,500 school buildings at grammars, academies, primaries and secondaries. It will pay to fix roofs, heating and other general repairs to improve the condition of schools. It will not be spent on or resources such as stationary and text books which many local authorities asked for.

However the National Audit Office recently said that it would cost £6.7bn to get all schools in England into an acceptable state of repair. Headteachers have argued this will do nothing to improve the ‘black-hole’ in the day-to-day running costs. They have been warning for some time now of having to cut staff, clubs and subjects because of . Something that is inevitable after Chancellor Philip Hammond failed to give more cash per pupil to existing schools in his budget. Russell Hobby leader of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said “This is money that was already allocated to building new places and so it does nothing to help fill the £3bn black hole in day-to-day school spending.”

Justine Greening said the £2.4bn allocated is part of more than £24bn the government has committed to investing in schools between 2015 to 2021.

Education Secretary Justine Greening said: “Our Plan for Britain is to build a fairer society, with a good school place available for every child. This £2.4 billion investment, together with our proposals to create more good school places, will help ensure every young person has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. The £2.4 billion allocated today is part of more than £24 billion the government has committed to investing in the school estate between 2015 to 2021.”