Thousands of children will benefit from free school meals as part of a £20m plan to extend eligibility criteria across local authorities. Schools secretary, Ed Balls, and health secretary, Alan Johnson, have urged councils to bid for the cash as part of a series of pilot schemes which will inform future government policy on the provision of free support to families. Primary care trusts (PCTs) have also been invited to apply for one of three pilot schemes, two of which will offer free school lunches to primary school children, with one-third testing the idea of extended eligibility criteria. Mr Balls said: ‘The pilots will help us to discover whether offering free school meals has an impact on child health and obesity, behaviour and performance at school, and eating habits at home.'