Supporting Families Through Cost of Living Crisis
First Minister John Swinney has confirmed the opening of a £1.5 million fund to support councils in removing the impact of school meal debt from families across the country.
Mr Swinney said this commitment will help ensure no child is penalised for struggling to pay for school meals as a result of the cost of living crisis.
While school meal debt is ultimately a matter for local authorities, the Scottish Government is making the emergency one-off funding pot available to support councils in helping remove the impact of the debt. This is in recognition of the challenges many families are facing during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
All P1-5 pupils in Scotland, and all children in special schools, currently receive free school meals – saving families who take up the offer an average of £400 per child per year. In 2024-25 the Scottish Government is investing to extend this free provision to all pupils in P6 and P7 whose families receive the Scottish Child Payment, as the next step towards universal provision in primary schools.
This fund is an important further step in the SNP government’s fight against child poverty, and is simply the right thing to do.
GRAEME
There are families up and down the country struggling to pay for school meals as a direct result of the UK cost of living crisis.
As we move towards universal provision of free meals in Scotland’s primary schools, this is just the latest way the Scottish Government is acting to relieve the financial pressures facing households.
While a legacy of Tory austerity and ongoing Westminster mismanagement holds us back, Scotland under the SNP is doing all it can to build a fairer society and the best one for children to grow up in.
As First Minister, my ambition is to eradicate child poverty – and today I am pleased that we are continuing progress to ensure that no child or their family is penalised for struggling to pay for a school meal during a cost of living crisis they did not create.
FIRST MINISTER JOHN SWINNEY
School meal debt can have a real impact on the wellbeing of families and can serve to stigmatise children whose families are going through challenging times. Local authorities can now bid to receive funding from a one-off Scottish Government fund which will support them to remove the impact of school meal debt.
As a result of a decade and a half of austerity and a cost of living crisis caused by the UK Government, too many families are struggling to make ends meet – and my government will take all the action we can to support them.
I am determined that we support our children to have the best start in life – that is why we are expanding free school meal provision to ensure every pupil can have a nutritious meal at school and ensuring no child is penalised simply because their family is struggling.
Background
Funding to cancel school meal debt was confirmed in the Scottish Budget 2024-2025.
Local authorities who apply for support will receive support to clear school meal debt accrued to 31 March 2024. It is for local authorities to determine whether to apply for subsidy and only those who do apply will receive support.
