This document relates to the School Meals (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill < >) as introduced in the Scottish Parliament on < >

SP Bill < >-FM Session 1 (2001)

SCHOOL MEALS (SCOTLAND) BILL

FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM (AND PRESIDING OFFICER’S STATEMENT ON LEGISLATIVE COMPETENCE)

FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM INTRODUCTION 1. This document relates to the School Meals (Scotland) Bill introduced in the Scottish Parliament on < >. It has been prepared by Tommy Sheridan, who is the member in charge of the Bill, to satisfy Rule 9.3.2 of the Parliament’s Standing Orders. It does not form part of the Bill and has not been endorsed by the Parliament.

BACKGROUND 2. The purpose of the Bill is twofold. Firstly, to give children the right to a free school meal and adequate drink of milk at schools under the management of local authorities in Scotland. Secondly, to make provision for (a) an inclusive system of nutritional standards in schools, (b) arrangements for the monitoring and enforcement of nutritional standards in schools, and (c) arrangements for a complaints procedure for pupils, and parents. 3. The school meals service in Scotland has been in a state of decline since 1980 when the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 (c.44) deregulated school meals and removed nutritional standards. This led to school meals having a higher saturated fat content, smaller portions, higher prices and a steep decline in uptake of school meals. 4. Section 53 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 sets out the current legal position with respect to school meals in Scotland. It places a duty on education authorities to provide free school meals in the middle of the day to pupils whose parents are in receipt of SP Bill < >-FM

Session 1 (2001)

This document relates to the School Meals (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill < >) as introduced in the Scottish Parliament on < > income support. However, the 1980 Act offers no assistance to working and low income families. In Scotland, 40.4% of women in full-time work and 18.9% of males in full-time work earn less than £250 per week (as compared to UK figures of 35 .7% and 16.6%. Source: New Earnings Survey 2000). 5. The Family Budget Unit at King’s College London has found that the income needed to sustain good health and child development is substantially above that provided in the UK by income support or the UK minimum wage (Family Budget Unit, King’s College London. ‘Low Cost but Acceptable. A Minimum Income Standard for the UK: Families with Young Children’.1998). From October 2001, the national minimum wage will rise from £3.70 to £4.10 per hour, while the Counc il of Europe’s ‘decency threshold’ is £7.39 per hour. 6. Working families tax credit (and its predecessor family credit) is not a qualifying benefit for a free school meal under the 1980 Act. In Edinburgh, for example, a primary school child pays £1.35 per day for a meal and a secondary school child £1.80 per day. A family with 3 children could pay as much as £27 per week. A considerable sum for low or modest income working families. 7. The 1980 Act is silent on nutritional standards. Indeed, Scots law does not even provide formal guidance on nutritional standards in schools, in contrast to dietary guidance available in England and Wales. (Dietary guidance is available in England and Wales from the circulars - ‘Eating Well at School’ 04/97, PPY386, PPY387 and PPY338, published by the DfEE). 8. A universal system will radically improve take up. One in five of children who are entitled to free school meals do not take them. Recent research carried out by DfEE for the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), which asked children themselves, concluded that the reason is stigma ('Improving take up of free school meals' Pamela Storey and Rosemary Chambelin, Thomas Coram Research Unit, DfEE, May 2001, Research brief no.270). Children (and parents) have said they are currently embarrassed to take free school meals. Universal entitlement would simply end stigma. 9. Scotland has universal provision in its wider health, education and welfare services. Our national health service, education system and other local authority services are universally free at the point of use. We are not means tested to get an operation, to send our children to school or have our bins collected because these are measures that contribute to the economic, social and healthy well being of Scotland as a whole. The same is true of school meals. The aim of the School Meals (Scotland) Bill is to build a healthy nation and, therefore, free universal provision makes perfect sense. 10. A universal system will also help maintain standards as it reduces the 'us and them culture' which is a consequence of means testing. If all families have a stake in the system then standards will be less liable to fall. Universal benefits have a higher take up, are less stigmatising and hit the target more effectively. Child benefit, for example, has 98% take

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This document relates to the School Meals (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill < >) as introduced in the Scottish Parliament on < > up; considerably higher than means tested benefits. The administrative costs are also lower, 2% of the child benefit budget is spent on administration; it is over 10% for income support and over 30% for the social fund. 11. There would be little point in providing universal meals unless they were good for children. It is hoped we could use Scottish produce: oats, barley, berries, fish, lamb, root vegetables, potatoes. But before you say 'kids won’t eat that!' Think scotch broth, fish fingers, mashed potatoes and gravy, lamb chops, flapjack, blackberry crumble and custard. Kids love it. And it’s nutritional, would improve standards and promote Scottish produce and rural business. 12. Scottish diet remains a major contributor to Scotland's poor health including coronary heart disease, some cancers and diabetes: adequate nutrition is of key importance for the development and growth in childhood and adolescence. The evidence is that the Scottish diet falls short of current dietary recommendations and we compare poorly with our European counterparts. 13. We have a lower intake of fruit with as few as 20% of children regularly eating fruit in the winter months and root vegetables are eaten by as little as 5% of children daily in the West of Scotland. Daily milk consumption has reduced causing major concern because of the need for calcium to ensure the development of healthy bones (the Bill makes provision for free milk). We have a high intake of crisps, white bread, fizzy drinks and chips and 11 to 13 year olds have a particularly high sweet and chocolate intake ('Dietary trends among Scottish school children in the 1990's, J.Inchley et al., Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, June 2001). 14. In summary, despite increased concern, the Scottish diet is the worst in Europe. The evidence is that health education programmes have increased knowledge about health and food but this knowledge gain has failed to be translated into sustained changes in eating behaviour. The Action Plan 'Eating for Health' (Scottish Office, Department of Health, July 1996) would mean not having to start from scratch to set nutritional standards.

COSTS ON THE SCOTTISH ADMINISTRATION 15. No provision is made for costs on the Scottish Administration. It is understood that the Standing Orders of the Parliament do not permit a Member’s Bill to authorise payments on the Scottish Consolidated Fund (9.2.6 and 9.3.4).

COSTS ON LOCAL AUTHORITIES 16. Costs are difficult to ascertain. They depend upon nutritional standards, take up, and capital investment required in schools as well as quantifying the savings that would

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Session 1 (2001)

This document relates to the School Meals (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill < >) as introduced in the Scottish Parliament on < > obviously be made in other budgets and by economies of scale. A sound estimate would be £1.68 per child per day. This would represent £190 -£23 0 million per year for all children across Scotland. (estimates provided by SPICe – the Scottish Parliament Information Centre in response to questions submitted by the member in charge of the Bill). These figures do not take into account that some children are already entitled to free school meals. 17. There are other savings. You would not, for example, set out as a primary objective of free school meals to decrease school exclusions and disciplinary problems in the classroom. But this has been a consequence of breakfast clubs in Scotland. Teachers report higher attendance and better behaved children ready to learn. Teachers would spend more time teaching. This needs to be financially quantified and deducted from the costs. 18. The health benefits are perhaps more obvious but just as difficult to quantify. Public health experts have recently asserted that too often in the UK, ‘health’ has been defined too narrowly – for example, by reference to the incidence of immediate disease. In 1947, the World Health Organisation (WHO) defined ‘health’ as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being’. (World Health Organisation, The constitution of the World Health Organisation. WHO, Chronicle 1, 1947, Geneva).There are also economies of scale, job creation and support for Scottish rural business. So actual cost would be much lower than might be thought. 19. Poverty has been established as the major determinant of child health in the UK. (‘Health Needs of School Age Children’ by Zarrina Kurtz and Rosemary Thornes, January 2000, see page 4 et seq.; funded by the Department for Education and Employment jointly with the Department of Health under the Healthy Schools Programme). To invest in the future of our children, we must invest in their diet. That is the purpose of the School Meals (Scotland) Bill.

COSTS ON OTHER BODIES, INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES 20. No significant costs expected.

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PRESIDING OFFICER’S STATEMENT ON LEGISLATIVE COMPETENCE 21. < >

SP Bill < >-FM

Session 1 (2001)

This document relates to the School Meals (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill < >) as introduced in the Scottish Parliament on < >

SCHOOL MEALS (SCOTLAND) BILL FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM

(AND PRESIDING OFFICER’S STATEMENT ON LEGISLATIVE COMPETENCE)

SP Bill < >-FM

Session 1 (2001)

This document relates to the School Meals (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill < >) as introduced in the Scottish Parliament on < >

SP Bill < >-FM

Session 1 (2001)