Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to funding the expansion of free school meals to all pupils in primary and special schools, as well as introducing free year round breakfast and lunch provision to support eligible children and young people outside of the school term.

Currently, all primary school pupils in primaries one to five, all children in special schools, and eligible pupils in Primary 6 through to S6 can benefit from free school lunches in Scotland – the most generous provision anywhere in the UK, saving parents £400 per eligible child per year.

We have also provided £21.75m of funding for free school meal alternatives to eligible families during the school holidays. This is administered by local authorities as a cash payment directly to families.

There is a currently a mixed delivery of breakfast provision across Scotland with a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. We have begun work with local authorities and key stakeholders to better understand and map that provision. That process is ongoing and will feed into future plans as they develop.

In addition, we have committed to building a system of school age childcare, providing care before and after school and in the holidays, which will be funded for those on lowest incomes. As we design a system of school age childcare, we will integrate food and childcare provision wherever possible recognising the benefit to children and families of coordinating food, childcare and activities.