Press Release

Voice (Scotland) welcomes free school meals

2 October 2008

Voice: the union for education professionals has welcomed the announcement on free school meals from the Scottish Government (2 October 2008).

General Secretary Philip Parkin said: “Voice (Scotland) welcomes this announcement. Nutritious food and good health go hand-in-hand. This scheme goes some way towards promoting a healthy lifestyle by ensuring at least one well-balanced meal per day.

"If all the children in a school have a free meal, any possible stigma about free meals disappears.

"However, we hope that schools will have the facilities to provide these meals and that funding is not cut back elsewhere to pay for this.

"We are disappointed that this provision will not be made until 2010. We would also like to see the scheme extended to children at secondary schools too. Many of them would also benefit from at least one nutritious meal a day."