Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:58 pm on 15 December 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:58, 15 December 2020

Llywydd, I think the Welsh Government's record in relation to free school meals during this pandemic will stand up to very close examination. We were the first part of the United Kingdom to guarantee free school meals during the early part of the pandemic, and we were the first part of the United Kingdom to guarantee that we would continue to provide free school meals right through the autumn and into the spring of next year. The allowance that we provide for free school meals per pupil is higher than England, higher than Scotland—in fact, the highest in the United Kingdom.

Of course child poverty matters hugely to us, and there are more things that we would wish to do. It's why, during this term, we have doubled and then doubled again the number of times during a child's school career that they're able to take advantage of what was once called the school uniform grant. As from next calendar year, we will begin to roll out an additional sum of money available to pupils in year 7, the first year of secondary school—an additional sum of money to their free school meal allowance every day to make sure that those children do not have to choose between eating breakfast or eating lunch.