School Meals for Primary 1-3

The Highland Council wishes to work with the Scottish Government to ensure that free school meals for pupils in Primary 1 -3 can be introduced from August 2010.

Councillor David Alston, Budget Leader, said: “The Administration of The Highland Council shares the aspiration to provide free school meals to pupils in P1 – P3. We also recognise the commitment made to this in the Concordat entered into by Scottish Government and COSLA, which formed the basis of the funding package offered to all Councils and which was accepted by The Highland Council.
 
“We wish to work with Scottish Government, in the spirit of mutual respect and partnership, to make this a reality. We believe, however, that this must involve recognition of the very significant changes in the economy since last December and consequently in the financial situation facing government at both national and local levels.
 
“Given the escalating cost of energy and fuel, the likely impact of the local government pay settlement, and general inflationary pressures in excess of the uplift in grant, all of which create the prospect of making cuts in service provision, we believe that continuing open, mature dialogue and flexibility on this issue are essential.”