FREE BREKKIE FOR KIDS ROW
Councils demand cash promised by the SNP in government manifesto
THE Scottish Government has been accused of backsliding on promises to give every primary school pupil a free breakfast.
Council chiefs fear Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth is trying to force them to pay for the measure without extra cash from Scottish Government funds.
Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy called it “yet another example of a broken promise from an SNP government that is all about government by press release, not by action”.
The SNP’s Holyrood manifesto said free breakfasts would be provided to every primary school pupil “all year round” but no timescale was offered.
At Holyrood in January, Gilruth said the government was “working towards” the commitment without providing dates.
She pivoted to talking about councils choosing to use their own funds to provide free breakfasts.
She said: “You might argue that I should provide that additionality to the system.
“We are working towards delivering the commitment but I recognise that a lot of schools are already delivering free breakfasts, so I need to have the national picture of what that looks like.”
Gilruth’s comments prompted an angry response from council group Cosla.
In a letter on the Budget, seen by the Record, they
wrote: “When discussing the Scottish Government’s commitment to provide a free breakfast on a universal basis, we were not aware there was a suggestion local authorities and schools should meet this from existing budgets.
“There is no statutory duty on councils to provide a free breakfast, nor has there been any agreement with Cosla on provision.
“It is one of our core principles that any new commitment initiated by the Scottish Government must be fully funded by them.”
At the same Holyrood committee, Duncan-Glancy pushed Gilruth on the free breakfast promise.
Gilruth said: “I do not yet know what the national picture is in relation to provision of free breakfasts, because some local authorities are taking a decision to deliver them anyway.”
Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said: “This looks like yet another SNP promise in the dustbin.”