The Scottish Government has said it remains committed to the roll-out of free school meals in primary and special schools in Perth and Kinross and across Scotland.
The commitment comes after Perth and Kinross councillors - and many others - expressed concern when Humza Yousaf revealed he would consider ditching the roll-out
Scotland's First Minister this week opened a debate on how best to target funding as the Scottish Government faces "tough choices".
The SNP's 2021 Holyrood election manifesto pledged to "provide free school breakfasts and lunches to every primary school pupil in Scotland, all year round, and for all children in state-funded special schools".
The roll-out has been done gradually and was expanded to include primary five pupils in January 2022.
The Scottish Government's Programme for Government 2022/23 - setting out actions it will take in the coming year and beyond - said: "We will also:
- Subject to agreement with CoSLA, begin to roll out the provision of universal free school meals to Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils, and take further action to reduce the cost of the school day for families, including reducing the cost of school uniforms through new guidance."
But in an interview with the Daily Record published on Wednesday, May 3 Mr Yousaf said: "I’ve got a 14-year-old now. Should people be paying for her free school meals when I earn a First Minister’s salary?
"I don’t think that’s the right way to use that money. I think the better way to use the money is to target it to those that need it absolutely the most."
His comments sparked an outcry.
Perth and Kinross Provost Xander McDade - who sits on PKC's Learning and Families Committee - Tweeted: "Other than universal free healthcare - universal free school meals seems like a much better way of targeting inequality than many of the other things that are provided free."
Conservative councillor Caroline Shiers was "very concerned".
The Blairgowrie and Glens councillor said: "I was very concerned to read the comments from the First Minister in his interview. My personal opinion is that provision of free school meals in primary schools is a positive intervention in tackling inequalities and ensuring all primary aged pupils have access to a nutritious lunch in school has been a positive step which has had cross-party support.
"There has been significant investment in increasing capacity to cater for expansion of school meals in primary schools and I am sure many parents and carers will be rightly concerned at discussion of a U-turn on this policy."
"I was entitled to free school meals as a child due to my family's circumstances and I have been very supportive of a universal delivery which takes away the stigma, reduces bureaucracy and has huge opportunities to improve the health and wellbeing of children across Scotland."
Scotland's largest teaching union the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) was equally concerned.
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: "The EIS is deeply concerned to read comments from the first minister today, suggesting a roll-back on the Scottish Government’s commitment to the delivery of free school meals for all young people. Reneging on a commitment to free school meals would be a massive and profoundly damaging mistake which would betray young people living in poverty across Scotland, and would be a particularly hard blow to families with school-aged children as they continue the hard struggle with the cost-of-living crisis."
Following the backlash a Scottish Government spokesperson later confirmed its commitment to the roll-out but added there were "tough choices" to be made over how best to target resources.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Scotland has the most generous universal free school meal provision of anywhere in the UK. All pupils in primaries one to five, and eligible pupils in primary six through to S6, can benefit from free school meals, saving families an average of £400 per eligible child per year.
"Councils can also make discretionary offers of free school meals to families who are experiencing financial hardship, who do not meet the regular eligibility criteria.
"We remain committed to the expansion of free school meals in primary and special schools as described in our programme for government.
"As the First Minister has set out earlier today, we need to make tough choices and target our resources where they have the most impact. The First Minister has now opened a debate on how we best target our resources to those who need them most."
The Scottish Government did not confirm when the roll-out to primary six and seven pupils would be.
Last week - during an update to PKC's Finance and Resources Committee on works on the Free School Meals Expansion Programme - PKC's head of Business and Resources Greg Boland told councillors: "We still don't have a date for delivery of free school meals for primary six and seven. All we know is it will potentially be within the current parliamentary term but we're obviously still progressing as we can to make sure we're good and ready for when the day of the launch is confirmed."
