Council / More parents to benefit from free school meals and higher clothing grants
COUNCILLORS shied away from moving towards implementing free school meals to all Shetland pupils and instead opted to increase clothing grants by 50 per cent while also aligning some payment criteria for free school meals to help low income families.
Following a lengthy debate at the education and families committee on Tuesday morning, councillors also agreed to consider increasing nationally set income ceilings for free meals and school grants to better reflect the high cost of living in Shetland.
A motion by councillor Stephen Leask to offer free school meals to all early years, primary and secondary pupils at an extra cost of £630,000 found some sympathy but no seconder.
Likewise, a move by councillor Tom Morton to implement free school meals for primary six and seven ahead of the Scottish Government doing so found no support.
The committee was discussing a range of options of how best to support families affected by the cost of living crisis.
The meeting heard from council leader Emma Macdonald that none of the options on table were affordable within existing council budgets and that any additional cost had to come from reserves.
Aligning the criteria for free school meals and the clothing grants is set to cost the SIC around £58,000 in lost income as a further 129 pupils will stop paying for their school meals.
The planned 50 per cent increase in clothing grants meanwhile should benefit 470 pupils at an additional cost of £28,330.
Morton said he could not support this way forward as it would have the potential to further stigmatising pupils accessing this support.
However, councillors felt even more uncomfortable with his proposal to implement free school meals for P6 and P7 pupils ahead of the Scottish Government doing likewise ahead of a national policy drive.
Councillors will now be presented with a more detailed report on the implications of their decision with a view of making these changes early in the new year.
They will also hear on the options available to them around increasing benefits thresholds that would be more meaningful to circumstances in Shetland.
Councillor Neil Pearson, who initiated this aspect, described the current national ceiling of £17,005 as laughable and added that anybody in Shetland earning in the low £20,000 should be classed as having to live on a low income.
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