Issue - meetings

It was resolved that the Council would fund the cost of providing the 'Free School Meals Provision during School Holidays' to families eligible for free school meals over the 2023 summer holidays.

It was emphasised that this decision was relevant to this holiday only and following the Welsh Government's announcement in a letter dated 28 June 2023, that they would not extend the scheme over the 2023 summer holidays.  

It was agreed to draft a letter to the Welsh Government to express the Cabinet's disappointment that the scheme would not be undertaken over the summer and this confirmation had been received late in the day close to the start of the summer holidays.  It was explained that the letter would include the Cabinet's reasons to fund the scheme over the summer.

PAYMENTS FOR FAMILIES THAT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR FREE SCHOOL MEALS OVER THE 2023 SUMMER HOLIDAYS

The report was submitted by Cllr Beca Brown

RESOLVED

It was resolved that the Council would fund the cost of providing the 'Free School Meals Provision during School Holidays' to families eligible for free school meals over the 2023 summer holidays.

It was emphasised that this decision was relevant to this holiday only, following the Welsh Government's announcement in a letter dated 28 June 2023, where it was said that they would not extend the scheme over the 2023 summer holidays.  

It was agreed to draft a letter to the Welsh Government to express the Cabinet's disappointment that the scheme would not be undertaken over the summer and that this confirmation had been received late in the day, close to the start of the summer holidays.  It was explained that the letter would include the Cabinet's reasons to fund the scheme over the summer.

DISCUSSION

Disappointment was expressed that the Welsh Government had announced this financial cut very close to the start of the summer holidays, especially in light of the recent cost of living crisis.

It was confirmed that the likely cost of funding this scheme over the 2023 summer holidays was around £316,000. It was explained that this figure had been estimated at a cost of £117 per pupil (total of £3.90 a day for a period of 30 days over the summer holidays). It was detailed that around 2700 pupils had been claiming free school meals.

It was explained that this proposal was one-off funding and that a permanent bid would need to be made to enable funding for such a scheme in the future. It was detailed that funding this scheme would not affect the Council’s permanent and long-term budgets as it was a one-off payment funded by money in reserve. It was confirmed that allowing this payment would not create financial problems for the Council.