Moray pupils 'going hungry' in mornings
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Some pupils in Moray are going hungry at morning break despite being entitled to free school meals.
That's the claim of councillor Sonya Warren (Buckie, SNP) who is criticising the council for the length of time being taken to find a solution to the problem.
Senior pupils from Buckie High School brought a petition to the council in March.
This called for money to be released earlier in order to allow pupils who haven't had any breakfast to get something substantial to eat.
As some of the signatories were children, and not on the electoral register, the petition was considered invalid.
Nevertheless, officers pledged to look at ways of releasing money earlier in the day.
Cllr Warren, a former chair of the council's education committee, has brought the matter up several times since March.
She said: "Getting the money to pupils so they can have a bowl of soup or a sandwich at morning break should be simple.
"But we’re nine months on and there’s still no solution.
"This seems a relatively quick and easy fix that would make a big difference to some of our young people."
The Scottish Government provides councils with funding for free school meals.
Entitled pupils have money paid onto their Young Scot cards on a daily basis.
However this money is cleared from off the card if not used by the end of the day.
Cllr Warren said: "The money is administered on a daily basis – and that seems very labour intensive to me.
"We have children whose mental health is being damaged and we have children who are going hungry."
A council spokesperson said a workable solution was being sought.
They added: "Unfortunately, the system doesn’t have the flexibility to easily change how and when money is released.
"Any further information or progress on the matter will be brought to relevant stakeholders, including elected members, as soon as is practicably possible."
