Council leader John Ross

free meals or clothing and footwear grants even though they were entitled to them.

“What we’ve done is taken any doubts, and the paperwork, out of the equation. If a pupil is entitled to a free school meal or a uniform grant, they simply get it.

“We took another good decision on this in June when we resisted an attempt to have the value of the grant increased to use up all the money that was available when the Scottish Government increased its contribution to set the minimum grant at £100.

“Given the higher than expected numbers we now have, that proposal would have added significant pressure to the budget.

“So I’m pleased we stuck with our plans, as a result of which every one of these thousands of pupils can now get the free meals and £100 clothing grants.”

Uniform payments for eligible pupils in South Lanarkshire increased from £50 last summer to £100 this year after the Scottish Government introduced a minimum allowance.

Anti-poverty campaigners say that SLC’s £100 grant still falls £30 short of the recommended amount.

Councillor Lynsey Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Labour’s education spokesperson, said: “It is clear from these figures that auto enrolment is working well, which we as a Labour group support.

“However, it’s disappointing that at the start of the summer, when they were given the chance to increase the clothing grant, the SNP administration voted with the Tories against Labour’s proposal.”