Commissioner signs joint letter

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Nicola Killean has joined leading charities and third sector organisations in calling on the Scottish Government to end school meal debt and hidden hunger.

In a joint letter to First Minister John Swinney, the signatories urge for permanent measures to ensure no child in Scotland faces the burden of meal debt.

The letter states: “In a country as rich as Scotland it is shaming that any child is burdened with debt or goes hungry at all, let alone at school.”

The letter recognises the positive step achieved by last year’s temporary School Meal Debt Fund, which supported around 30,000 families, but stressed the need for lasting solutions to tackle the root causes of poverty.

The measure must be made permanent or risk repeating the same cycle of debt for families. As explained: “Families who benefitted from having school meal debt cancelled have seen that debt begin to build again… Families are still struggling to pay bills, to buy food or to provide their children with the things that they need.”

Access to food is a basic human right, but it’s one that isn’t met for all Scotland’s children and young people. Across Scotland, more and more children and their families are being pushed into food insecurity — where they don’t have consistent access to sufficient affordable, nutritious food.

The letter calls on the Scottish Government to make the school meal debt fund permanent and expand free school meal eligibility to all families receiving the Scottish Child Payment, with the ultimate goal of universal free school meals.

The letter states: “The expansion of free school meals must also be the first step towards full universal free school meals for all pupils in the future which we know can benefit children’s wellbeing, their ability to learn, and reduce stigma.”

You can read the letter sent on the 1st of December 2024 here.