GIVING FREE MEALS to primary school pupils will land the four councils in Tayside and Fife with a multi-million pound bill, writes Grant Smith, education reporter.

Local authorities across Scotland were asked by Holyrood’s education committee to comment on plans to scrap charges for meals for all P1 to P3 pupils from 2010.

Dundee City Council— which has already said it might find it hard to implement the scheme—did not reply, but Fife, Angus and Perth and Kinross councils did.

Their submissions make it clear that large sums will have to be found in their budgets.

Fife was one of five pilot areas for the free meals and it reckons that in a full year the cost would be £2.76 million. Perth and Kinross estimates it would be facing an annual bill of at least £1.34 million.

Given that Dundee and Angus are broadly similar in population to Perth and Kinross, it seems likely that the cost spread across the four authorities could be more than £6 million per year.

Fife Council said it had seen an increase in the uptake of school meals from 50% to 77% of the P1 to P3 pupils and it expected this to increase further from August 2010.

A council spokesman said, “There were no major difficulties throughout the trial and we believe it will be relatively straightforward to roll out fully.

“Additional crockery, cutlery, tables and seating were required and it was necessary to recruit additional staff in some instances, or to increase the hours of some employees to deal with additional numbers.

“Some school dining areas and kitchens were not designed to accommodate the increase in numbers. This was managed by extending or staggering lunchtimes and by providing additional staffing resources.”

Perth and Kinross Council said it fully supported the principle of providing free meals, but it could only welcome the move with caution given the current uncertain financial climate. It already faces pressure on its budget because of rising energy costs.

It plans to ask schools what the impact would be on accommodation, the structure of the school day and the need for extra cleaning and supervision of meal-times.

It told the education committee, “There are a number of other issues that cause uncertainty at this stage—further significant inflation, costs associated with staggered lunch times and capital costs from the expansion and development of dining/kitchen facilities.”

Angus Council said it was preparing a report for councillors on the implications of the scheme, including the likely costs.

The Scottish Government has made it clear it believes councils should have enough money to provide free meals, thanks to the concordat signed last year that set out how much local authorities would be given to spend.

Angus Council said, “Nevertheless there are a number of issues which have to be resolved or understood before a final decision can be made on its implementation.

“These issues include understanding what has emerged from the evaluation (of the pilots) and understanding the precise financial implications of the proposals.”

The education committee heard oral evidence yesterday from several local authorities, including a complaint from Aberdeen City Council that there was weak evidence from the pilots of improved outcomes from children and a criticism from Inverclyde Council that the move was “tokenism” that would not improve health.