Blog: Aberlour’s 2023 Budget Calls

There are few things that seem as unjust as children being burdened with debt.

But that is what is happening to children whose families can’t afford the cost of school meals.

That is why we are calling on Humza Yousaf to use next week’s Scottish budget to cancel school meal debt for all children across Scotland.

Aberlour published research last year showing around 25,000 children and their families owed more than £1m in school meal debt.

This year follow up research showed that in the last twelve months the number of children with a school meal debt has risen to 30,000.

And the value of that total debt has now increased by 60% to nearly £1.8m.

This is despite the fact that half of Scotland’s councils have taken action in the last year – in response to Aberlour’s campaigning – to write off school meal debt in their own areas.

Nonetheless school meal debt keeps growing and more and more hard-working, low income families are struggling to feed their children.

Children from our poorest communities already face additional barriers to education and to achieving at school as a result of poverty.

At Aberlour, we know from working with schools around the country that increasing numbers of children arrive at school without having eaten breakfast.

Children can’t be ready to learn if they are hungry.

We should at least be able to guarantee that children are fed when they are at school.

But for far too many children we know this isn’t happening.

For children in primary 6 and 7 who don’t receive a free school meal they will still get lunch at school, even if they have no money in their account or no packed lunch.

But their family get charged for it and they build up a debt they then can’t afford.

Families we work with at Aberlour say the anxiety of having school meal debt adds to the already huge financial pressure they are under.

In some cases, local authorities are using sheriff’s officers to chase families for school meal debt – for as little as £10.

For older children in high school we know that they feel ashamed and embarrassed to tell a teacher or member of school staff they have no money to buy lunch.

So, to avoid the shame and stigma many of them just go hungry instead.

We hear about young people looking out for each other, and those that have lunch money clubbing together to buy enough food for their friends who don’t have any.

But it shouldn’t be young people’s job to look out for each other.

It should be our politicians’ job to do that.

It should be the First Minister’s job to do that.

Last week MSPs voted unanimously to protect children’s rights through incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law.

That includes children’s right to food.

School meal debt and hidden school hunger show us that right is simply not being met for children in Scotland.

Humza Yousaf must now make sure children’s right to food is realised, not just because it is the right thing to do but because the law says he must.

As a member of the End Child Poverty coalition Aberlour has called on the Scottish Government to do much more to tackle child poverty.

This includes putting more money in low income families’ pockets by increasing the value of the Scottish Child Payment.

We know the best way to prevent families getting into debt is to make sure they have enough money to provide for themselves in the first place.

But we need to make sure that any increased income families receive doesn’t just go back to councils or debt collectors to pay school meal debts, when they still can’t afford to feed their children.

School meal debt must be written off and we must prevent school meal debt for struggling working families by extending free school meals to all low income families.

Then families can use any extra money from the Scottish Child Payment for what is intended to do – increase their income and help them afford the day-to-day essentials they need.

School meal debt and hidden school hunger should shame us as a country.

Humza Yousaf must act now to make Scotland a country where no child goes hungry.

Martin Canavan

Head of Policy and Participation