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Chamber and committees

Reducing the Cost of the School Day for Low Income Families

  • Submitted by: Shirley-Anne Somerville, Dunfermline, Scottish National Party.
  • Date lodged: Monday, 25 April 2022
  • Motion reference: S6M-04138
  • Current status: Taken in the Chamber on Tuesday, 26 April 2022

Motions as amended

That the Parliament recognises the actions being taken to support children and young people in low-income families to access school education; notes that Scottish Government commitments include expansion of free school meals, provision of free school milk, removal of core curriculum charges, ensuring low-income families do not face costs for curriculum-related trips, abolition of fees for instrumental music tuition, increasing the school clothing grant, producing guidance to reduce school uniform costs, provision of a digital device and connectivity to every pupil, and services to support income maximisation; recognises that this complements the wide range of policy initiatives set out in the Scottish Government's Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland, to maximise household resources and improve children's wellbeing and life chances; believes that accessible childcare is critical to poverty reduction to ensure access to education and the labour market, that this must be full wrap-around, affordable provision with qualified staff, and centred on the needs of the child; recognises that extracurricular and after-school activities are key to the mental health of young people, as well as ensuring children have a wide range of skills, but that this must be affordable and accessible to all children, particularly those from low-income backgrounds; calls for the Scottish Government to ensure the universal availability of summer clubs with activities, learning and free school meals, and further calls for the publication of up-to-date baseline data on child poverty, as well as a post-COVID-19 pandemic assessment of the health of the early years sector.


Supported by: Clare Haughey, Jamie Hepburn

Vote

Result 80 for, 29 against, 0 abstained, 20 did not vote Vote Passed

Scottish National Party

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Scottish Labour

Scottish Green Party

Scottish Liberal Democrats

For
Against
0
Abstained
0
Did not vote

No Party Affiliation

For
0
Against
0
Abstained
0
Did not vote

Original motion text

That the Parliament recognises the actions being taken to support children and young people in low-income families to access school education; notes that Scottish Government commitments include expansion of free school meals, provision of free school milk, removal of core curriculum charges, ensuring low-income families do not face costs for curriculum-related trips, abolition of fees for instrumental music tuition, increasing the school clothing grant, producing guidance to reduce school uniform costs, provision of a digital device and connectivity to every pupil, and services to support income maximisation, and recognises that this complements the wide range of policy initiatives set out in the Scottish Government’s Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland, to maximise household resources and improve children’s wellbeing and life chances.

Defeated amendments

Motion ref. S6M-04138.2

Reducing the Cost of the School Day for Low Income Families - Amendment - Amendment

Submitted by: Oliver Mundell, Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date lodged: Monday, April 25, 2022

Current status: Taken in the chamber on Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Result 48 for, 64 against, 0 abstained, 17 did not vote Vote Defeated

Amendments that have not been voted on

Motion ref. S6M-04138.1

Reducing the Cost of the School Day for Low Income Families - Amendment - Amendment

Submitted by: Michael Marra, North East Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date lodged: Monday, April 25, 2022

Supported by: Foysol Choudhury, Paul Sweeney, Martin Whitfield
Current status: Taken in the chamber on Tuesday, April 26, 2022