The announcement of the extension of free school meals to
all pupils in primary school classes P1-3 in England was made back in September
2013. As a consequence, there was additional and proportional cash committed by
the UK Government to the Scottish Government. It is disappointing that the
Scottish Government took so long to make up their mind how they would use this
additional funding, which has meant that the introduction in Scotland has been
delayed by five months.
On Tuesday there was vigorous debate in the Scottish
Government about whether free school meals was the best use of the additional funding,
when a substantial proportion of children from households with the lowest incomes
already receive free school meals. But now the decision has been made, in
Dundee we will need to turn our attention to how best to implement this decision. Hopefully,
offering free school meals to children in primary one to primary three in our
schools will help promote learning because a hungry child is less likely to be
receptive to learning than one who has had a regular nutritious lunch.
I trust that the Scottish Government will promptly inform our
Council of the small print of their programme so that the Council can make the
necessary arrangements to deliver an anticipated increase in school meals in
our Primary Schools from the projected start date in January 2015. The
practical arrangements should not be underestimated, as some of our heavily
subscribed schools may struggle to serve a larger number of children a school
lunch because of existing pressure on kitchen and dining hall accommodation.
These schools already have multiple sittings to cope with the
demand for school lunches.
I have written to the
Director of Education, Michael Wood, to ask him to advise the Education
Committee about this as soon as practicable. He has reassured me that once the
details of the scheme are provided, he will advise the Education Committee of
the arrangements for Dundee Primary Schools.