EDUCATION chiefs at Glasgow City Council are proposing charging school pupils up to £3 for a breakfast or closing up to half of the authority's breakfast clubs.
A report to be considered by the Children and Families Committee today details a review carried out of 135 such clubs provided at the city's schools, looking at ways to save on the net annual cost of £2 million.
Proposals include clustering breakfast clubs in adjacent schools, cutting services altogether in schools with low take-up and charging up to £3 for a breakfast to children who currently pay only £1.
The review concluded that clustering was only possible in two locations serving four schools and one of these would save no money. Merging another two would raise some traffic safety concerns but would save around £3,000 a year.
A plan to cut breakfast clubs deemed non-viable due to cost or underuse would save up to £447,703, but would mean the loss of up to 64 breakfast clubs and 133 breakfast assistant jobs, according to a range of calculations.
The option of charging more to those whose parents pay is also calculated, with the review concluding that a 20p increase to £1.20 would raise up to £77,748 but could see usage drop by five per cent. Meanwhile raising prices to £3 would save between £583,110 and £777,480 but could see custom fall off by up to 25 per cent.
The report seeks feedback from councillors on the options, concluding: "We know that breakfast clubs are valued by those parents who make use of them and we do not wish to impact negatively on families.
"However, given the financial position of the council there is a need to explore the options to enable this service to be delivered in a more cost effective way."
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