Tories slam SNP over breakfast club figures
EDEL KENEALY
More needs to be done to encourage low income families to take advantage of free breakfast clubs, the Tory Party at South Lanarkshire Council has said.
The opposition group has called out the SNP administration for failing to remove potential barriers to children taking up a place.
Breakfast clubs, offering a healthy breakfast to children before the school day begins, were extended to all primary schools in South Lanarkshire this week after a successful pilot.
But Tories say that not enough is being done to ensure the children who would benefit most from the scheme are able to attend.
Councillor Alex Allison, leader of the Tories, said: “The evidence so far shows quite low take-up of breakfast club places, so we need to know why most people are choosing not to use them.
“These clubs offer a healthy breakfast to pupils before class, which gives parents extra time to get to work and helps those on low incomes to make their household budget go further.
“A proper analysis is needed so councillors of all parties can see if there are barriers to families who could find these clubs useful.
“For example, are clubs held before school buses arrive, which would make it hard for some children to take part?”
Katy Loudon, chairwoman of the education recourses committee, said: “Last week, the education committee was updated on our roll-out of the next phase of the expansion of our breakfast club programme to all primary schools.
“Over two pilots, the average number of children attending has increased, with around 1,450 children receiving a breakfast that they may not have had before. “As Tory councillors should know, the scheme is flexible, and can take account of local travel and start times. “Tackling poverty is a key driver of the introduction of breakfast clubs across the country – poverty primarily caused by Tory welfare reform.”
Council chiefs say they will do their own evaluation to assess the impact of breakfast clubs.