Nicola Sturgeon has backed calls for councils to write-off school meal debt incurred by families.
The First Minister said she is “deeply uncomfortable” with parents being pursued during a cost of living crisis, adding that she had tasked officials to look at the issue.
Free school meals are given to all children in primary years one to five - but charges apply to older kids unless their parents are on benefits or low incomes.
Information obtained by the Scottish Greens - who share power with the SNP at Holyrood - revealed that families owed £968,082 to 28 councils for unpaid meals.
The Greens called in March for the debt to be cancelled by local authorities.
At Holyrood, SNP MSP Stephanie Callaghan asked the First Minister whether councils should cancel any debts.
She replied by claiming that households are facing a “Tory exacerbated” cost of living crisis which is hitting those on the lowest incomes.
She added: “I am deeply uncomfortable, as any decent person should be, with families being pursued for debt for school meals, especially in the economic climate that exists right now.
“So I am very sympathetic to calls for this debt to be written off, and as part of what I've asked officials to do is to look at that."
She continued: “It should be said that local authorities do usually write off school meal debt for families, but as I said, I've asked Scottish Government officials to talk to COSLA about what more can be done.
“Local authorities also have flexibility to offer free school meals to families who don't meet eligibility criteria, but are about experiencing financial hardship, and I would encourage anyone who thinks they have become eligible for free school meals to apply as soon as possible.”
Of the councils that provided figures to the Greens, North Ayrshire confirmed £141,528 of debt while the figure was £114,690 in Aberdeen.
The figure in Perth and Kinross stood at £81,026, South Lanarkshire came in at £107,847, while Edinburgh was £40,497.
Of the £968,082 total, £812,026 was incurred by families in primary schools, £55,571 in secondaries and £1143 in nurseries.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
