One in four pupils reject school meals

Row over free food policy

ONE in f our children is refusing free school meals, raising further doubts over the SNP’s £95million policy.

Before its introduction last month, only pupils from poorer families qualified for free lunches.

But ministers claimed extending them to all infant pupils would reduce the stigma while boosting children’s health and attainment.

A survey reveals that around 75 per cent of pupils in P1-3 are taking advantage of a free school lunch on a typical day, although uptake has risen in many areas.

The l atest disclosures f ollow concern that some cash- strapped councils, unable to afford the policy, are providing substandard fare to pupils.

Critics said that while families of the 135,000 pupils eligible for free school meals could each save up to £330 a year, many parents would prefer the cash to be spent on addressing classroom overcrowding and falling education standards.

The latest information emerged in a BBC Scotland survey. Not all councils were able to provide information publicly or give direct comparisons with previous years. But the replies indicate that the take-up of free school lunches varies widely from area to area.

The average take-up in Scotland is 75 per cent, although in areas such as Falkirk and North Ayrshire it is 80 per cent or more.

In North Lanarkshire, the uptake is now 69 per cent while in Glasgow, where the city council anticipated serving an extra 4,000 school meals a day, the actual increase has been significantly lower, around 2,800.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Free school meals are saving eligible families at least £330 a year and universal availability for P1-3 will remove any possibility of free meals being a source of stigma during the first years of a child’s schooling, as well as improving health and wellbeing.’

Last night Tory young people spokesman Elizabeth Smith said: ‘The Scottish Conservatives remain unconvinced that universal free school meals is the right policy.

‘It is much preferable that scarce resources are spent on our most vulnerable children.’