School meals to cost more under plans

THE cost of school meals in Angus is set to rise for the first time in almost a decade.

Education officials are recommending an increase of at least 9% when the council budget is set tomorrow.

It equates to 20p extra on the cost of a daily meal.

The council says the hike is necessary to close the gap between what it actually costs to make a school meal and what parents pay.

If approved, the move will bring in almost £80,000 a year.

In her budget recommendations, education director Kelly McIntosh says: “Angus Council last increased school meal charges in 2015.

“Due to inflationary pressures, there is now significant divergence between the charge levied and the actual cost of producing a school meal.

“The revised cost of a primary school meal will be £2.30, and a secondary school meal will be £2.40.”

The increases represent 9.5% for primary pupils and 9% at secondary level.

But P1-5 will continue to have access to a free school meal, as well as P6 to S6 children who are eligible on financial grounds.

At the same time, the authority aims to save hundreds of thousands of pounds over the next two years by cutting visiting PE and art teachers in primary schools.

But the authority leader said staff would be deployed in other posts.

“We discussed this in great detail with the education team,” she said.

“The service has been slimmed down over several years, it is a small team.”

Council finance spokesman Bill Duff said the council is facing a “wolf at the door” scenario.

Tomorrow, the SNP administration will present spending plans which reveal the amount of council reserves they plan to

use in 2024-25. Included will be a oneoff payment of £300,000 after the ruling group decided not to reintroduce car parking charges.

The officers’ budget recommendations assumed the return of those on April 1.

A proposal to axe all of Angus’s school crossing patrollers by 2026 has also been rejected by the administration.

Officials said it would save the council around £300,000 in total.

The SNP group has also yet to confirm whether it backs a council tax freeze – a move that would bring £2.8m of Scottish Government support. But Mr Duff warned “significant increases” in council tax in future years are inevitable as the authority faces a £37m three-year funding gap.

BUDGET: It would be the first Angus school meals price hike in nearly a decade.