Free school meal plans are delayed

Police closed off Emmock Road, at its junction with Old Glamis Road, after the one-vehicle collision at around 2.15pm.

Officers say no one was hurt and the car has been removed from the scene.

One nearby resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It looked like the car had crashed on to its roof on the road as it goes over the Dighty

THE pledge to provide all pupils in Scotland with a free school meal by August 2022 has been delayed.

Pupils in P5 are now entitled to a free school meal. However P6 and P7s will have to wait even longer for their eligibility.

Older primary pupils were supposed to receive free school lunches by the start of the new school year in August – however, this commitment has been relaxed.

The budget which sets out the Scottish Government’s proposed spending for 2022-23 says free lunches will now be given to all primary schoolchildren “later in the parliamentary term”.

A government spokesperson said: “We have provided funding to support the expansion of free school lunches to primary four and five.

“Ministers are committed to funding the expansion of free school meals to all pupils in primary and special schools during this parliament.

“Our budget plans for 2022-23 will provide £30 million capital allocation for investment in school kitchen and dining areas to prepare for this further expansion and we will continue to work with local government partners over the next academic year.

“This is to ensure that the expansion can be delivered equitably across all schools in all areas whilst maintaining a high quality provision for pupils.

“We will also work with partners on a phased approach to delivery of a universal milk scheme in primary schools aligned to the expansion of free school meals.”

However the plans, which were announced as part of the SNPs election manifesto, placed pressure on local authorities to meet the demand in providing every pupil with a free lunch.

Councillors in Perth and Kinross agreed to serve pupils frozen school lunches in order to rise to the August 2022 challenge. From tomorrow, pupils in Perth and Kinross will receive their lunch from Tay Cuisine.

Meals are prepared in Dundee before they are flash-frozen and distributed to pupils, where they are then reheated and served.

The region’s Tayside counterparts in Angus and Dundee also use Tay Cuisine’s frozen meals for pupils.

Carse of Gowrie Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey has renewed calls for the frozen meals scheme to be binned now that the pressing timeline has been scaled back.

A Tay Cuisine spokesperson said the cook-freeze service has been operating successfully since January 2021 with feedback “highly encouraging”.