Cost of the School Day

Part of 4. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 3:51 pm on 14 March 2023.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 3:51, 14 March 2023

The Member says that we can 'debate the merits' of it; let's be clear, he doesn't want us to be doing it. [Interruption.] He doesn't want us to be feeding every child in primary school, so that's absolutely the position that his party takes. So, there's no debate about the merits of it; it's pretty clear what his position is on it, so let's have that on the record.

There's a significant fund that has been invested in delivering this effectively. Part of that is capital—that's running at a £60 million budget at the moment—and part of it is revenue, running at around £260 million over the period. The work has been done with each local authority to identify their needs and has been allocated on that basis. I just want to pay tribute to the Vale of Glamorgan Council, and councils right across Wales, for the incredible speed, actually, at which they've been able to deploy that capital and roll out the scheme. When similar proposals were considered, for example, in Scotland, understandably, perhaps, the period between the policy being initiated and it being rolled out in schools was to the order of twice as long as we've been able to do it in Wales. That, in no small part, has been because of the commitment of local authorities right across Wales. And, actually, we've been looking carefully at how we roll out—and we'll be making some announcements again in coming weeks about the second year—and that does respond to the real challenges that there are in implementing some of the capital changes required on the ground—to adapt kitchens and so on. That picture varies right across Wales, of course, but the funding has been shared fairly in a way that reflects the needs of authorities, and I thank them for all their work.