Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. As a matter of principle, every child should receive free school meals. To get to that point, we need planning and to do so in a phased way. The first step is to start to include the 70,000 children living below the poverty line in Wales, and that is what our motion puts forward today. They are missing out at the moment, mainly because their parents are in low-paid employment. In supporting our motion, you would also be supporting the 6,000 children in Wales who don’t qualify for free school meals because their families have no recourse to public funds.

Today, therefore, we are calling on the Welsh Government to ensure that some of the fiscal resources that are as yet unallocated in the draft budget for 2021-22 are used in the final budget for 2021-22 in order to expand the free school meals eligibility criteria to include all children in families in receipt of universal credit or equivalent benefits or any child in a family with no recourse to public funds.

According to surveys by the Welsh Government itself, the cost of doing what we are calling for, the cost of expanding school meals to all children in families in receipt of universal credit, would be between £33 million and £101 million—the lowest figure if only one child in every family were to take advantage, and the highest if three were to do so. Now, it's clear that Wales will receive more funding from Westminster. Last week, there was an announcement on further Barnett consequentials of £650 million, which could be carried over into next year. This is in addition to the £350 million that the Government can also carry over into next year from this year. So, there is no excuse now for not expanding eligibility. The funding is available to be allocated for the purpose that we set out in our motion today.

In terms of the budgetary process, then today is the last chance for the Senedd to have a meaningful vote on the issue of extending free school meals. The final budget is expected next week; it’ll be published on 2 March, and discussed on 9 March. So, it is crucial that all Senedd Members make their views clear to Government by supporting our motion today so that the appropriate fiscal adaptations can be made.

It is truly disappointing to see that the Government has tabled a delete-all amendment to our motion, and rather notes that it is unacceptable in a modern society that children still go hungry. Well, I would agree. But an amendment simply noting that but refusing to do anything to resolve the issue is good for nothing for the poorest children who are missing out on free school meals. In addition to that, it's very disappointing to see the Government ignoring its own child poverty review. This report noted that expanding free school meals to a broader range of children and young people is the one step that would help most in tackling child poverty—the one thing—and yet again the Government continues to reject that, although the funds are available. It is disappointing and entirely unbelievable, if truth be told.