The Scottish government has abandoned its promise to extend free school meals to all primary school pupils, focusing instead on expanding the benefit only to P6 and P7 students whose families are in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment. Last year’s programme for government had stated that free school meals would be expanded to all students in P6 and P7, and the government intends to proceed with this when possible. The move was criticised by opposition leaders, who accused the First Minister of being “out of ideas”. First Minister John Swinney stated that his government’s first programme for government was a commitment to eradicate child poverty.
The Scottish government has faced financial challenges, with the recent announcement of £500m in cuts. Nevertheless, the government pledged to invest £1bn in childcare, reduce NHS backlogs and achieve public service reform. The programme for government also included proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill to improve energy efficiency standards and a Housing Bill that would include proposals for rent controls to protect tenants.
The announcement was criticised by Scottish Conservative and Scottish Labour leaders, who claimed that it was a list of empty promises. LGBTQ+ groups also criticised the government for changing its commitment to ending conversion practices, following a public consultation on laws to ban conversion therapy for sexuality or gender. The government said that it aimed to progress commitments to end conversion therapy practices, “should a UK-wide approach not be achievable”.
The debate on whether to provide free school meals to all children or just those on low incomes was also reignited. Supporters claim that universal free school meals help to eliminate the stigma attached to claiming for meals, while opponents argue that they are a middle-class benefit that diverts resources from low-income families
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