Children could be reimbursed for school meals missed during closures

Children who receive free school meals might no longer miss out during extended school closures.

Moray Council has been asked to agree to a new policy which will see payments be made in lieu to qualifying families whose children have missed free school meals due to an “unplanned” school closure or school transport failures.

Documents explaining the proposal state the child must have missed a minimum of three consecutive days for the policy to come into effect – it will not cover single-day closures or one-off transport failures.

It was created for ‘extended exceptional circumstances’ including extreme weather, blocked roads and power failures.

Should it be approved, payments will be made at a rate of £1.65 per meal, which is the “value of unpurchased food” as there are fewer catering and staff costs involved compared to the normal rate of £2.55 for primary school dinners and £2.90 for secondary.

This will mean there is no additional cost to the council should the policy be agreed by the council’s education, children’s and leisure services committee at its meeting on Tuesday, June 23.

An option of a £1.50 payment per meal has also been forwarded to cover administrative charges associated with the payment, but the £1.65 payment is the preferred option by the council’s education department.

The money will be given out from day four of the child not being able to attend school, and it will be backdated to day one.

However, families who receive the Scottish child payment or universal child payment will not be eligible for the proposed scheme, as it states the Scottish child payment is an extension of the free school meal policy rather than being income-based.