School breakfast club plan would cost £1.7m
Running breakfast clubs across all schools in Renfrewshire would cost the council around £1.7million each year, a report has revealed.
Ballpark figures have been drawn up by officers after an elected member asked how much cash would be needed to extend the programme.
The issue was first raised last June after the success of clubs already operating in the area’s schools was highlighted at a leadership board.
A survey found 95 per cent of children thought the clubs helped them get ready to learn, while 92 per cent said they boosted their concentration levels throughout the day.
Labour councillor Alison Ann-Dowling, who represents Houston, Crosslee and Linwood, expressed her support for the project’s work at the time and said its success was evident.
“I welcome the work that the council is doing with the breakfast club initiative,” she said.
“It’s clear from the results and the data that we’ve got in this report that it’s a valued service.”
Councillor Ann-Dowling asked officers if they could provide approximate costs associated with expanding breakfast club provision across all primary and high schools in Renfrewshire.
A report, which will be discussed at today’s leadership board, provided a rough breakdown based on factors which included staffing, food costs and an average of 75 pupils per school attending the clubs.
An extract from the paper said: “Based on the desktop exercise, the estimated cost for introducing and running breakfast services across all Renfrewshire schools is estimated to be in the region of at least £1.7m per year.
“Some of the costs could be offset by charging a consistent fee across Renfrewshire.
“It should be noted that this a high level estimate only at this stage, and a much more detailed exercise would required to be undertaken to fully cost this model.
“The estimated cost would be recurring on an annual basis and to fund this level of provision would therefore require savings of at least £1.7m per annum to be delivered elsewhere within the council’s core budget.”
A number of breakfast clubs currently run in Renfrewshire schools are funded and operated through varying arrangements.
The council said it spends around £288,000 on the clubs it provides.
It is clear from the results and the data that we’ve got that this is a valued service