Extra cash needed for free school lunches

Published on Friday 3 October 2008 09:46

EDINBURGH primary pupils could miss out on the Scottish Government's promise of free school meals after council chiefs said they would need extra cash to pay for the policy.

Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop announced yesterday free lunches for all P1-3 youngsters would be rolled out across Scotland after pilot schemes were judged a success.

But Edinburgh's education convener Marilyne MacLaren said it would be "very difficult" for the city council to implement the policy without more government money.

Her stance puts the council at odds with the Government and local authority umbrella organisation Cosla, who both insist cash to pay for the meals had been included in the funding settlement agreed at the end of last year.

Cllr MacLaren said: "We will be looking at the Scottish Government's proposals to introduce free school meals for all P1, P2 and P3 pupils but we believe that the implementation of such a policy will be very difficult if insufficient additional money is available to fund it."

The cost of free school meals for P1-3 has been estimated by officials at 30 million for the forecast 70 per cent uptake and up to 46 million for 100 per cent uptake. One estimate put the cost for Edinburgh at between 2m and 3m.

The Scottish Government insisted councils had agreed, when they signed a concordat with the government in December, that if the pilot was a success, free meals would be extended throughout the country and the money for it had been included in their budgets.

And Cosla education spokeswoman, and SNP councillor, Isabel Hutton said: "This is clearly an agreed concordat commitment and therefore the funding is included within the overall package."

But Edinburgh was not alone in warning extra cash would be needed to pay for the free lunches.

Angus, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire all said unless the Government provided more money, other services would have to be cut to pay for the policy.

And Labour's education spokeswoman Rhona Brankin accused the SNP of creating a "crisis in local government".

She said: "The SNP are shirking their responsibility as a government. Fiona Hyslop is demanding councils deliver free school meals without providing the money to pay for them."

A spokesman for the First Minister said councils had signed up to deliver the meals. Asked what would happen to a council failing to deliver the meals, the spokesman said: "We're not prepared to make that assumption."