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We have child benefit, which is a universal (non means tested) benefit for all under 16s, paid to their parent or legal carer. WE also have free precriptions for families on income support and most entrance fees to events have a waged and non-waged price. There are still some families for whom buying school meals would be too much but for whom that school meal is important. They get free school dinners. Lot of schools are now starting to offer breakfasts as well, some of them free to all kids as a way of encouraging healthy eating habits.
The free school dinner was instituted at a time when many workingclass children simply didn't get a balanced, hot meal at any point in their day. It's survived as a form of assistance for the poorest families, hence it is used as one of the measurements to ensure that schools are catering to a wide demographic and not surreptitiously selecting out the poorer (and therefore more likely to be troubled) kids.
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