3. Will the Government provide an update on plans to deliver free school meals to primary school pupils? OQ57510

Yes, I issued a written statement on 17 December, outlining the activities and priorities associated with the roll-out of free schools meals to primary school pupils, reflecting the agreement reached with Plaid Cymru in the co-operation agreement. Our absolute focus now is on working with our partners to increase the capacity of schools to deliver this extended provision.

Diolch, Weinidog. One of the main parts of the co-operation agreement was the free-school-meals policy, which will benefit so many families. I'm proud that Plaid Cymru has helped to bring this to fruition from September of this year. This policy has major and positive implications for local supply chains and combating child poverty. It will also entail a capital cost to ensure that all primary schools can accommodate the extra demand of preparing and serving additional school meals. Minister, are you able to confirm that the capital funds are in place to equip school canteens, and that everything is on track to facilitate this flagship policy of the co-operation agreement?

We've already provided an initial package of funding, which isn't the larger package that he's describing, to local authorities, to begin the planning work for the roll-out of the new level of entitlement, which, as he obviously knows, is a very significant extension of the existing eligibility, and that will enable local authorities to work with us in the coming months. 

Some of that work is around working with their own partners, the supply partners, and others that he's alluded to in his question, but also to audit the workforce, to audit the existing infrastructure, and what more then needs to be put in place in particular schools in order to deliver the extended provision, and, generally, to work out the practical implications related to changes in the free-school-meals eligibility. We would all like that to be in place at the very earliest moment, but there are, as his question implies, a set of practical things that need to happen in order for that to be rolled out smoothly. As he knows, some of that work will be done between now and September, enabling the first tranche to be rolled out then, and there'll be ongoing work obviously for schools to make sure that the capacity is there in the system to deliver the next tranche the following year, but that work is already under way. We'll be working with local authorities over the coming weeks to map out what that means on the ground in terms of extra capacity, extra arrangements in relation to workforce and infrastructure. 

Minister, I recently met with members of the Farmers Union of Wales at Monmouthshire livestock market. During the meeting, concerns were raised about the Welsh Government's plans to extend free school meals to all primary school pupils in view of the Deputy Minister for Climate Change's statement that we should eat less meat. The president of NFU Cymru, John Davies, said that the high sustainability values of Welsh red meat and dairy means that consumers can continue to enjoy these products knowing that they are not impacting the environment. So, can I ask, Minister, what discussions have you had with ministerial colleagues to ensure that school meals have high nutritional value, with the priority being given to locally sourced good-quality produce from Welsh farms? Thank you.  

Well, actually, many of our local authorities already have arrangements in place to procure local produce in the way that she underlines, and her question is so important for many of our food producers, and we want to build on these practices across Wales. So, where schools and local authorities are able to establish cost-effective procurement arrangements with local food producers, I would absolutely encourage them to do so. I think the benefits of doing so are obvious to us all, aren't they. We all will share that priority. I think instilling healthy eating habits and attitudes at a young age really will bring the biggest benefits. Food preferences formed when we're young actually cover the rest of our journey through life, and I think offering a healthy school meal to all primary-age children free of charge will remove the stigma, which is sometimes associated with receiving free school meals, and I think that, alongside the ability to deliver even more locally sourced food in our schools, is a fantastic opportunity. 

I speak as someone who has long supported free school meals in state primary schools, not just to support local farmers, but, more importantly to me, to improve the health of children and improve educational attainment. Hungry children do not perform very well. But my question is: what is the estimated capital spend necessary to increase capacity of school kitchens and dining halls? And what is the estimated number of additional kitchen staff that will be needed? I know this won't all happen in one year, but, if you hope to do it over the next four years, how much are you talking about? 

That is the work that's currently under way with local authorities to map out the need both in relation to infrastructure and also in relation to workforce, and that will enable us then to crystallise those numbers. But that work is already under way, and we've provided a budget to our local authority partners to support them in working with us to do that.