(Title Image: Bristol Post)
- Majority of Senedd members vote down call for all children in households receiving universal credit to be eligible for free school meals.
- Lots of sympathy for the idea in principle, but concerns over costs and practicalities.
- Education Minister says universal school meals for all school-age students would cost up to £169million a year.
The Motion
The Senedd:
- Calls on the Welsh Government to immediately amend the eligibility criteria for free school meals so that any child in any family receiving universal credit or equivalent benefit and any child in a family with no recourse to public funds is eligible, as the first step towards implementing universal free school meals for all school-aged children in Wales.
As trailed during this week’s First Minister’s Questions, Sian Gwenllian MS (Plaid, Arfon) laid bare the fact that 70,000 children in Wales living in poverty are ineligible for free school meals. They miss out because their parent(s) may be in low-paid work which takes them above the income threshold.
Raising the threshold so that all children from households in receipt of universal credit receive free school meals is estimated would cost £60million. Moving further to provide all children – regardless of household income – with free school meals will reduce the stigma attached to them and with stricter nutritional guidelines could provide children with healthier food than packed lunches.
Delyth Jewell MS (Plaid, South Wales East) said children who go hungry face developmental problems which continue to cause problems into adulthood and put them at greater risk of developing certain diseases. Future generations would look back on us allowing children to go hungry as a similarly barbaric practice as using children as chimneysweeps or miners.
Shadow Education Minister, Suzy Davies MS (Con, South Wales West), said the question as to where to draw the line between paying and not paying for free school meals should always be reviewed – but if parents can afford it, they should pay. On that principle, the Conservatives can’t support continued free school breakfasts and there’s a similar argument against free prescriptions.
While there was a fair amount of sympathy or support for the motion on Labour’s backbenches, there were reservations over the costings and lack of detail (exactly the same line as the First Minister on Tuesday).
Mike Hedges MS (Lab, Swansea East) raised the practical problems associated with universal free school meals such as kitchen capacity and local government funding.
Jenny Rathbone MS (Lab, Cardiff Central) believed public procurement needed an overhaul to ensure local supply chains benefited. John Griffiths MS (Lab, Newport East) said current free school meal provision was being under-claimed by about 25%.
In response the Education Minister, Kirsty Williams (Lib Dem, Brecon & Radnor), said Wales has the most generous per-head provision for free school meals of any of the UK nations; £52million has been pledged to ensure children continue to receive free school meals during the pandemic.
When universal credit was rolled-out the eligibility criteria for free meals had to change, with no additional funding provided by the UK Government. While local councils have discretionary powers to support families who are on low incomes but not yet receiving benefits, the Welsh budget isn’t unlimited.
The Minister estimates that universal free school meals for primary school pupils alone would cost an estimated £92million a year and for every school-age student, £169million a year.
Vote
The version of the motion amended by the Welsh Government – praising current investment in free school meals and the free school breakfast scheme, as well as committing to review the income threshold for free school meals from April 2021 – was approved by 26-18 with 5 abstentions.