Free schools meals are failing to reach many of those who need them most in Wales. The Child Poverty Action Group found that half of children in poverty in Wales are missing out on free school meals – over 70,000 children. The Labour Welsh Government’s own review into Child Poverty (obtained by Plaid Cymru through an FOI) has actually come to the same conclusion.
Labour say there’s no cash – but we know that’s not true. We can expand the eligibility by using unallocated funding in next year’s draft budget. The calculations have already been done by the Labour Government in Wales themselves. The cost of expanding free school meals to all children in families in receipt of Universal Credit would be between £33 – 101 million. There is almost £689 million unallocated cash in the draft budget for next year.
So there is a way, what’s lacking is the political will and the imagination. The benefits of a free school meal are about more than just stopping a child go hungry – a regular, nutritious meal can improve a child’s performance at school, and their health overall, and thereby offset some of the injustices and inequalities caused by poverty.
A compassionate government would work to ensure that no child goes to school hungry or to bed cold, and to that end, a Plaid Cymru Government will make sure that none of these children go hungry. We can but hope that the Labour Government sees sense and rights this wrong before it’s too late.
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