The Scottish Government�s commitment to providing free school meals for five to seven-year-olds moved a step closer yesterday after it passed a crucial committee stage in the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish Government's commitment to providing free school meals for five to seven-year-olds moved a step closer yesterday after it passed a crucial committee stage in the Scottish Parliament.
MSPs on the education committee voted in favour of allowing councils to provide free lunches to pupils in primaries one to three.
Three SNP committee members voted in favour of the policy, with one LibDem and Conservative voting against, while the three Labour members abstained.
If the committee had voted against it, councils who had wanted to provide the free meals and budget for them would have been banned from doing so.
The outcome of the vote was welcomed by anti-poverty campaigners who said the policy will improve the health and education of children across the country.
It is understood that Labour, who want the Scottish Government to provide more cash to councils to deliver the commitment, decided to abstain rather than block the policy completely.
The SNP criticised the opposition parties for failing to support the policy.
Aileen Campbell, one of three SNP MSPs on the committee, said: "We expect Tories not to care about improving the health of Scotland's children, but people will be astonished that the LibDem on the committee voted with the Tory to take food from the mouths of Scotland's children."
She added: "As for Labour, their failure to support the extension of free school meals speaks volumes about Labour's priorities."
Labour's education spokeswoman, Karen Whitefield, said: "Scottish Labour believes there is merit in the idea of providing more children with free school meals, but the SNP must explain who will pay the bill."
Liz Smith, Tory member, said: "I'm persuaded of the extreme need to help those who are in poverty and also persuaded of the evidence from councils that they feel uncomfortable about being able to deliver this policy in difficult economic circumstances when they will have to make some compromises."
The LibDem member, Margaret Smith, said it was not the right time to be spending money on a universal policy.
