Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 11 September 2024
11 Sep 2024 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Free School Meals (Primary Pupils)
I will take Monica Lennon’s intervention later.
Last week, John Swinney confirmed in this Parliament that he was scrapping the SNP’s pledge to introduce universal free school meals for P6 and P7 pupils. A promise was made, and that promise has been broken.
Here is the issue: we know that the Scottish Government has never seriously tried to close the attainment gap. It does not know how to do that; it has not forensically worked out what interventions would be required to do it. However, everyone knows that our kids need food in order to be ready to learn. As the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland said yesterday,
“Going to school hungry is not only a barrier to learning and educational achievement but it can severely impact development in childhood and into adulthood”.
The mission of eradicating child poverty will be set back by the Government’s decision, as it has been told by Save the Children, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Child Poverty Action Group.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-14406, in the name of Liam Kerr, on free school meals for all primary pupils. I invite members who wish t...
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
How times change. Do members remember the then First Minister promising in 2015 to completely close the attainment gap? Now, this Government simply aspires t...
Monica Lennon (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Made a request to intervene.
Liam Kerr
Con
I will take Monica Lennon’s intervention later. Last week, John Swinney confirmed in this Parliament that he was scrapping the SNP’s pledge to introduce uni...
Monica Lennon
Lab
I welcome Liam Kerr’s motion and hope that the whole Parliament will back it today. All primary school pupils in Wales and in London have free school meals b...
Liam Kerr
Con
I absolutely agree with that—it is a good point well made. The amendment is as predictable as it is shameful and, indeed, ignorant. On 5 September, in this ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I call Jenny Gilruth to speak to and move amendment S6M-14406.3. 15:04
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (Jenny Gilruth)
SNP
Last night, I met the world schools debating champions at Bute house. Team Scotland was represented by Portobello high school, St Columba’s high school from ...
Liam Kerr
Con
I share the cabinet secretary’s deep disappointment in the Scottish Government’s decisions, but can she help us to understand what representations she made t...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
I made strong representations to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government. If the member is interested, he can speak to her directly about that...
Pam Duncan-Glancy (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
Pam Duncan-Glancy is attempting to make an intervention. I am conscious of time, and I would like to make progress, but I am going to name Pam Duncan-Glancy,...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
You need to conclude, cabinet secretary.
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
The reality is that austerity is a political choice. It matters not one iota whether it is red or blue. The result is less money for Scotland, less money for...
Pam Duncan-Glancy (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I am pleased to open on behalf of Scottish Labour in the debate and to speak in support of the motion and the amendment in my name. I have said this before,...
Kevin Stewart (Aberdeen Central) (SNP)
SNP
Will Pam Duncan-Glancy give way?
Pam Duncan-Glancy
Lab
I am sorry, I do not have time. Young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are five times more likely to be unemployed. Those are not just numbers...
Ross Greer (West Scotland) (Green)
Green
I should start by thanking the Conservatives, not just for using some of their time this afternoon to debate free school meals, but because the topics of the...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
Marcus Rashford made a big impact on this whole debate in 2020 and before that. He has left a lasting legacy that has been credited, quite rightly, across th...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
You need to conclude.
Willie Rennie
LD
It is not only our promise; it is the Government’s promise, and it is for the Government to deliver it. We deserve an answer from the Government today.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
We move to the open debate. 15:23
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
I declare an interest in that my eldest daughter is a teacher. She is head of guidance as well as being a physical education teacher. When I came into Parli...
Jackie Dunbar (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Brian Whittle
Con
I am afraid that I do not have time. Ploughing that furrow simply digs a deeper and deeper hole for our educators, heaping ever more responsibility on to ou...
George Adam (Paisley) (SNP)
SNP
I find myself back on the back benches, freed from the shackles of Government, able to say what I really mean and what I really want to say. However, you are...
Foysol Choudhury (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
In 2021, the First Minister, then Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, said that free school meals were a landmark policy. Successive First Ministers ...
Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills said that she wanted some context and to engage with the Opposition. Like Willie Rennie, I will take her back ...
Evelyn Tweed (Stirling) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Liz Smith
Con
I will, in a minute. I presume that that is why the SNP made the manifesto commitment that it did in 2021. It made that promise, which we are debating this ...