John Swinney accused of 'broken promise' over free school meals U-turn

First Minister John Swinney is under intense pressure to reverse his watering down of an SNP pledge to expand free school meals - after pointing the finger at “fiscal mismanagement” from Westminster.

Despite insisting that eradicating child poverty is his “single greatest priority”, the First Minister has come under fire from opponents and campaigners for cutting a vow to offer free school meals to all P6 and P7 pupils.

First Minister John Swinney (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images

The commitment was pledged in the SNP manifesto at the 2021 Holyrood election. Instead of universal provision, the rollout will now only reach P6 and P7 pupils who are in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment.

The U-turn comes amid fears the Scottish Government is off-track in terms of hitting its 2030 child poverty target.

READ MORE: Lorna Slater makes Greens 'progressive force' claim as stance on SNP budget declared

Mr Swinney did not announce the decision when delivering his Programme for Government on Wednesday, but the pledge was left out of his prospectus for the next 12 months.

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer has called for Mr Swinney to reverse the “unforgiveable” decision.

She said: “This was a promise to the starving schoolchildren of Scotland that their government would protect and care for them in their hour of need. To let those pupils down is a sickening reflection of this Government’s inability to stick to their word.

“This must be reversed. Every day a child in Scotland suffers avoidable hunger is a failure of our state. The trade union movement across Scotland is still willing to assist, but if our politicians think child hunger is a price worth paying in the pursuit of this Government’s renewed pro-business, pro-entrepreneurial economic approach, then we face an uphill battle.” 

Fiona King, senior policy and public affairs manager at Save the Children Scotland, told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “The reality is there is nothing in this Programme for Government that truly shifts the dial on child poverty.”

At First Minister’s Questions, Mr Swinney told MSPs that his Government “will not be able, in this parliamentary term, to roll out the eligibility on a universal basis across Primary 6 and 7 pupils”.

The SNP leader put the decision down to Holyrood’s budget being “eroded by the fiscal mismanagement and sky-high inflation”.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said “the promise he asked people to support the SNP [on] to get them into Government has now been broken”.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross | Getty Images

He said: “For 17 years this government has over-promised and under-delivered for Scotland’s children. No one will believe yet another empty SNP promise to add to the pile.”

Mr Swinney stressed “it is the central mission of my Government to eradicate child poverty”.

He added: “Child poverty has been made the crisis it is in our country today because of the actions that Douglas Ross voted for.”

In response to further criticism over free school meals from Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, Mr Swinney warned “we have a fixed sum of money available to us, once the financial year starts”.

He said: “All we can do is receive consequential funding from the UK government, which might expand that, or we can re-allocate resources within the budget.”

The First Minister said the government had “reluctantly” taken the decision to drop the commitment to universality, adding ministers sometimes has to “face up to difficult financial choices”.

In the lead-up to FMQs, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes had said the Government was “standing by” its commitment to provide free school meals to all primary school pupils – although she was unable to say when this would happen.

“We have not ditched the pledge to roll it out,” she told the BBC. “What we are saying is like so many parts of the Government’s commitment, it is contingent on funding being made available.”

The defence came as the Government confirmed it would not take forward its planned Human Rights Bill until after the next Holyrood election, saying more time was needed to consider the “complex” legislation.

The Bill was not contained in the Programme for Government, leading to disappointment from the Scottish Human Rights Commission, a statutory body.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said she would continue to work on the Bill, including holding discussions with the UK government.

However, she said it would not be possible to introduce the Bill in the current parliamentary session, as the Scottish Government must consider its proposals further.

The Bill, announced by previous first minister Humza Yousaf, aims to enshrine international economic, social and cultural rights into Scots law “within the limits of devolved competence”.

In a consultation response, the Law Society said the Bill’s goals were “laudable”, but its implementation would be “complex”.

Writing to Holyrood’s human rights committee, Ms Somerville said: “After careful reflection, we have decided to undertake additional work to develop the Human Rights Bill.

“I want to assure you of the Government’s determination to use the remainder of this parliamentary session to further develop and strengthen the Human Rights Bill with the intention of taking forward such a Bill in the next parliamentary session.

“This decision has not been taken lightly, and reflects detailed deliberation on what is undoubtedly a complex and far-ranging piece of legislation.”

On Wednesday evening, the Scottish Human Rights Commissions said it was “deeply disappointed” the Bill was missing from the Programme for Government.

Chairwoman Professor Angela O’Hagan said: “The proposed Human Rights Bill would have provided a framework for a fairer Scotland, strengthening a human rights-based approach to local and national policy making in law.

“Abandoning this Bill denies people access to justice to ensure their human rights are fully realised, from a safe home to decent food and good health and social care.

“In a week where the Cabinet Secretary for Finance has already announced deep cuts across public spending, these decisions weaken the commitment to fight poverty and directly impact the most marginalised in Scotland.”