Humza Yousaf has denied he will halt plans for universal free school meals and insisted a pilot of the policy in secondary schools will go ahead. It comes after the First Minister last week indicated he did not believe it was the most effective way to tackle child poverty.
He’d said: “I don’t think that’s the right way to use that money”. But Yousaf appeared to U-turn after furious criticism from cross-party supporters of the proposal, which is the focus of a Sunday Mail campaign.
They argued means testing free meals creates a stigma for pupils attending class hungry and pointed to huge administration savings from a universal approach. Yousaf has now insisted a secondary school pilot will go ahead as promised.
