Councillors opt to consider increasing clothing grant payments – but not to extend free school meals

Councillors have opted to consider increasing the payments for school clothing grants by 50 per cent, following a lengthy debate about the cost of living crisis.

The education and families committee decided against extending free school meals to all primary pupils, or to all pupils across all schools.

Councillor Stephen Leask had proposed that the council offered all pupils free meals, saying: “Young families need help in this miserable time and we have it within our gift to use this funding.”

But council leader Emma Macdonald said they “do not have the funding” for such a move.

She added that, of the five options presented to the committee at Tuesday’s meeting, “none of these options are affordable on our current budget”.

No seconder was found for Mr Leask’s motion, and councillor Tom Morton also could not find a seconder for his proposal to offer free meals to all primary and early learning pupils.

The committee instead opted to bring forward options four and five – to align the payment for free school meals to the school clothing grant, and to increase the payments for school clothing grants by 50 per cent.

They will now be considered by the full council at December’s council meeting cycle.