SNP free lunch rejected by one in five children
MORE than one in five children in the first three years of primary school are refusing free meals.
Free lunches were offered to all children in P1-3 for the first time in 2015 in a flagship policy costing nearly £100million for the first two years.
Previously, only pupils from poorer families qualified for free lunches, but ministers believed extending them to all infant pupils will reduce the stigma while boosting children’s health and attainment.
But the percentage of P1-P3 pupils who took a free school meal decreased from 81.2 per cent in 2017 to 79.6 per cent in 2018, while the total number of pupils taking a free meal fell by 3,664 from 134,042 to 130,378.
The policy follows other SNP measures including free higher education and free prescriptions which have been criticised for failing to prioritise scarce public funds where they are most needed.
Last night Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said the figures undermined SNP claims that Tory welfare policies increased child poverty.
She added: ‘The SNP has been at pains to claim that more and more children are in poverty yet these statistics suggest a different story. If there is a decline in school meal numbers, this surely suggests that good progress is being made to take more children out of poverty.’
The total percentage of all pupils who took a meal (free or paid for) supplied by their primary or secondary school decreased from 56.9 per cent in 2017 to 55 per cent this year. Meals for children in the years above P3 are means-tested, depending on parental benefits received.
In 2015, ministers provided £70.5million over two years to deliver the commitment, together with capital funding of £24.8million for all 32 Scottish councils to build or improve kitchen facilities.
The Scottish Government then provided local authorities with a total of £53.9million in 2017-18 to deliver free school meals to P1-3 pupils.
The latest disclosures follow concern that some cashstrapped councils, unable to afford the policy, are providing substandard fare to pupils.
Critics said that while families of the 135,000 pupils eligible for free school meals could each save more than £300 a year, many parents would prefer the cash to be spent on addressing classroom overcrowding and falling education standards.
Barnardo’s Scotland has warned that free school meals bring only ‘modest’ benefits to the poorest children.
Critics cite a study in Hull, Yorkshire, where primary pupils received free meals for three years. Researchers found that while the stigma was reduced for new recipients, free meals ‘may not help these or other children to reach their daily recommended nutrient intakes’.
The SNP’s decision to press ahead with free school meals was taken despite negative research findings by Ipsos Mori, showing pupils discarded the healthy elements of their meals while tucking into items high in fat, sugar and salt.
Commenting on the downturn in pupils taking free meals, a Scottish Government spokesman said it was ‘affected by a range of factors including fewer P1-P3 pupils on the school roll in 2018 and a lower proportion being present on the day the survey was done’.
He added: ‘We are committed to providing free school meals for all children in the first three years of primary school, saving families an average of £380 per child per year. We would urge all families eligible for free school meals above P3 to register.’
‘Decline in school meal numbers’