Letter to FM urging Scottish Government to sort school meal debt

Aberlour and The Scottish Sun have sent an open letter to Humza Yousaf, Shona Robison and Jennifer Gilruth asking them to sort the school meal debt in the forthcoming Scottish budget. The letter below has been published in today’s Scottish Sun:-

Dear First Minister, Finance Secretary, and Education Secretary,

We write ahead of this month’s Holyrood Budget on December 19, about the issue of school meal debt and how it is affecting thousands of families in Scotland.

In short, this is a plea for help – now – for those who have been unable to pay for meals for their children. It is also a plea for an enduring solution to this long-standing but worsening issue.

In recent weeks, The Scottish Sun’s Sort the School Debt campaign, in conjunction with Aberlour Children’s Charity, has sought to highlight the need for the debt to be cancelled.

The estimated cost of this is £1.8 million, a sum which is small in terms of the Scottish Government Budget, but could make a world of difference to the 30,000 children and their families affected.

Such a move would also provide a stop-gap to the point approaching in the next few years when – at least in primary schools – school meals are due to be free for all pupils, under the welcome Scottish Government policy.

As you will be aware, many of the families who owe money are those who in years gone by would not have fallen into debt due to being eligible for free school meals.

Many of these will be families who are not eligible for the Scottish Government’s new Scottish Child Payment, who have now been pushed to the brink by the cost-of-living crisis. In addition many families who are eligible for the Scottish Child Payment do not qualify for free school meals.

Comparative figures suggest the total debt is rising, and while large-scale economic and fiscal interventions are difficult for the Scottish Government, local government and education clearly falls within its powers.

Some councils have shown willingness to act – and indeed have – on this matter.

Others have been reluctant, meaning that we firmly believe this issue will now require Scottish Government intervention.

We would draw your attention to the wealth of evidence about the fall in household disposable income in recent years.

The Office For Budget Responsibility last month said living standards as measured by real household disposable income per person are forecast to be 3.5 per cent lower in 2024-25 than the pre-pandemic level.

It is now a fortnight until the Scottish Government publishes its draft Budget for 2024-25, we are aware that you will be finalising these details in the coming days.

We hope you can take this into consideration and agree that the moral case for ending school meal debt accrued by struggling families is difficult to argue against, especially given how it can help in the Scottish Government’s fight against child poverty.

During our campaign we have also highlighted how councils are using debt collectors to hound parents for even small  amounts of debt.

This should stop – and we would call on you to use whatever powers you have in order to achieve this.

One clear action your government can take to prevent against school meal debt is to extend eligibility for free school meals to all low-income families.

Yours,

SallyAnn Kelly OBE, Chief Executive Aberlour Children’s Charity

Gill Smith, Editor, The Scottish Sun