To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains committed to rolling out universal entitlement to free school meals for all primary school children within the current parliamentary session. (S6O-04137)

The Scottish Government remains committed to the universal provision of free school meals in primary schools. The current financial position means that we are prioritising targeted support for those pupils who are most in need. In 2025-26, we are providing £37 million of resource to support the expansion of free school meals to pupils in primaries 6 and 7 who are in receipt of the Scottish child payment. Agreement to the budget from parties on all sides of the chamber will ensure that that work continues.

Universal free school meals have been a policy aspiration for the Parliament for many years, supported by members on all sides of the chamber and by the Scottish Trades Union Congress and Action for Children. Child poverty is not unavoidable—it is, as we know, a political choice—and free school meals are essential to reduce pressure on often fragile household budgets and to drive down the number of children who are going hungry at school.

However, the school day does not get any cheaper after primary school. Will the Scottish Government therefore agree to complete its promised delivery of universal free school meals to all primary school children by the end of the current session of Parliament, and then commence the roll-out into high school by increasing eligibility to secondary school children who are in receipt of the Scottish child payment?

The Government stands by the commitment to delivering free school meals to all primary school pupils. Having taught hungry children as a teacher, I know how transformative the policy has been for families across Scotland, with those who take up the offer saving roughly £400 per child per year.

Right now, we are delivering universal free school meals during term time for all 273,054 children in primary 1 to primary 5 and children in special schools, as well as eligible pupils in primary 6 to secondary 6. Outwith term time, we remain the only part of the United Kingdom to provide families with extra support through our holiday hunger programme, with £21.75 million being provided to support free school meals to eligible families during the school holidays in the current academic year. The next step of the universal roll-out is a targeted approach supporting those children most in need who are in receipt of the Scottish child payment in primaries 6 and 7.

What more is the Scottish Government doing to improve uptake of free school meals among children in receipt of the Scottish child payment, and what additional measures has the Government included in the budget for 2025-26 to provide support with the costs of the school day for families?

I mentioned in response to the previous member the extension of the roll-out of free school meals to those who are eligible in primaries 6 and 7 in receipt of the Scottish child payment. The budget also prioritises further support for families—for example, we have committed to lifting the two-child cap and uprating the school clothing grant, as well as allocating £18.7 million to continue to deliver the education maintenance allowance programme, which provides vital financial support to young people from low-income households to enable them to remain and progress in their learning.