West Dunbartonshire Council didn't apply for school meal fund

The local authority was one of three councils in Scotland which did not wipe the outstanding monies owed to them, despite government funding being available.

The £3million School Meal Debt Fund was announced in the Scottish Government's 2024/25 budget and aimed to help bring children out of poverty by relieving them of their outstanding debt.

In data obtained through a Freedom of Information request to West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC), it has been revealed that from February 2024 to December in the same year, 27 families owed a total sum of £5262.

In 2023, the council agreed to wipe £75,579.38 of historic debt, which included monies owed from breakfast clubs.

However, it has been confirmed that the local authority did not apply to have the money owed to them since 2023 wiped through the fund, which scrubbed £2.8 million of debt from 29 areas of Scotland.

MSP Ross Greer, who has campaigned for several years to introduce the government funding, has asked the council to explain why they never wrote off the £5262.

Ross Greer spearheaded a campaign to introduce government funding to help local authorities wipe school meal debt. (Image: Colin Mearns)Greer said: “I delivered enough money to wipe out the school meal debt held by struggling families across West Dunbartonshire and all of Scotland.

"Despite this cash being available to the council for months, it appears they didn’t collect it. Instead, they are still chasing pupils for debt their families simply cannot afford to pay off.

"This is extremely disappointing news, and I expect a clear explanation from the council as to why they didn’t use their share of the money I secured.”

WDC has chosen not to reveal why it did not apply.

The council have argued that they are continuing to provide support to those in debt, but they have a policy to collect what is owed to them.

Meanwhile, the local authority has raised its school meal prices from £3.04 to £3.19, the second-highest price in Scotland.

READ MORE: 'Concerning': West Dunbartonshire school meals second most expensive in Scotland

Pupils in primary one to five are automatically entitled to free school meals across the country.

Up to 68 per cent of school meals are provided free of charge; however, the council has previously said uptake on the entitlement of free meals is as low as 35 per cent in some schools.

Aberlour, a Scottish Children's charity, has been working with families to combat school meal debt and says the added pressure of being unable to pay for lunches has a large impact on home life.

The organisation has joined the campaign on wiping school meal debt and has been calling on all local authorities to welcome the policy.

Martin Canavan, Head of Policy & Participation at Aberlour. (Image: Supplied) Martin Canavan, head of policy at the charity, said: "We are now a country which has incorporated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), so there is a fundamental duty to ensure children don't go hungry.

"There is a compulsion and a duty on all public bodies. If a child has outstanding debt or is going hungry at school, then that is an indication that we are failing in our duties to uphold children's rights.

"When we are talking to local authorities about writing off school meal debt or preventing the issue, they need to understand children's rights and that we have this duty in the area."

The charity commissioned a study into the effect of school meal debt on families throughout Scotland.

It found that not only can the debt exacerbate their financial issues, but the majority of those with debt are those on the margin, where they just miss the free meal criteria and are ineligible for state help.

Martin added: "I understand the strain on local authority budgets and how that plays out in terms of inflationary pressures, but families feel the impact of that.

"Our call is that school meals should be affordable for those who do not qualify for free lunches, even with extended criteria or increasing the criteria around affordability.

"We should never have meals that are unaffordable."

READ MORE: Pupils could be eating elsewhere due to the price of school meals, say charity

A WDC spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to supporting our pupils to thrive in school, and this includes providing a nutritious lunch for those entitled and to others who choose a school meal.

“While we have a duty to recover all monies owed in line with our Corporate Debt policy, no child will ever go without a meal because of outstanding debt.

“We continue to provide a range of financial advice and support to families through our Family Opportunity Hubs and Working4U service, and encourage any parent who requires assistance to visit: https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/working4u/work/employability-support-services/family-opportunity-hubs/"

Have you been affected by this? Email our reporter at emily.moore@newsquest.co.uk.