Wales' youngest pupils to get free school meals from September

About 180,000 children will benefit from extending free school meals to all primary school pupils in Wales, the first minister has said.

Mark Drakeford and Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said some of the youngest children will begin receiving free meals under the scheme this September.

They said that the universal free school meals programme would be fully operational by September 2024.

But a union warned some schools would struggle to be ready by this autumn.

The Conservatives said it was wrong to give free meals "to the children of millionaires".

Mr Drakeford and Mr Price gave an update on the programme, part of a co-operation deal between Labour and Plaid Cymru, at a joint news conference.

Some £25m is to be spent on improving kitchen and dining facilities.

Local councils will also receive £40m in additional revenue, or day-to-day funding, for the scheme over the next financial year, followed by £70m in 2023-24 and £90m in 2024-25.

The first minister said: "We want to reach as many children as quickly as we can but the quality of food on offer matters very much, and we've learned painfully in the past in Wales that food safety has to be at the front of our minds as well.

"Hence the capital investment, to go alongside the revenue needed, to deliver on this part of our agreement."

Mr Price said such a large expansion of free school meals would have a "massively beneficial impact upon families that are struggling and in food poverty at the moment".

"In many cases there are there are families that are in genuine need that are just above the threshold in terms of eligibility," he said.

But a head teachers' union warned some schools were "not equipped or resourced to provide a meal to all children" and should not be blamed it they were unable to comply with the plan from September.

NAHT Cymru director Laura Doel said: "Some schools outsource their catering provision and there are issues with the supply chain that need to be addressed, and for others there are issues with capacity if meals are produced and brought into a setting from neighbouring schools.

"Even with this significant investment, we need to be realistic about what schools will be able to deliver, given that we are only a term away from the beginning of the rollout."

Welsh Conservative education spokeswoman Laura Anne Jones said it was wrong to give free school meals "to the children of millionaires when it has never been more essential to target support at those who need it most".

She said Labour and Plaid Cymru were "totally out of touch, have no interest in addressing the underlying reasons that lead to people needing free school meals, and do not have the interest of the poorest in society at heart".

The Welsh government has previously announced that children eligible for free school meals can continue to receive them through the Easter, Whitsun and summer holidays this year, a measure introduced earlier in the pandemic.

On Saturday, Mr Price told his party's spring conference that Plaid Cymru-led councils will also aim to offer free school meals to all secondary pupils within five years.

Free school meals is a key part of the agreement between the two parties - as is increasing the size of the Senedd.

At their recent party conferences, Labour and Plaid Cymru affirmed their commitment to the goal.

Adam Price said today it's "absolutely essential" that Wales elects a bigger parliament in 2026.

But the route to getting there is far from clear.

An all-party committee is trying to solve puzzles such as the size of constituencies and the electoral system.

Hence Mark Drakeford's more cautious answer in this press conference.

While 2026 is the year "when we would like reform to happen" there are "a series of practical issues that have to be addressed" first, he said.