School meal debt in East Renfrewshire will be written off for the first time after a charity highlighted the impact on families struggling due to the cost of living.
Almost £43,000 won’t be recovered following a recommendation from council officials, who said over 80% related to balances of £20 or less and would be “uneconomical to pursue”.
The decision, made by the council’s cabinet, comes after the Aberlour Children’s Charity called for a “debt amnesty” to make sure children do not go hungry.
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A council official said the charity’s research had “highlighted the impact of school meal debt on families already struggling during the cost of living crisis” and an amnesty would “alleviate some of that financial pressure”.
She said all pupils receive a school lunch “regardless of level of debt” but the council does have “procedures in place to sensitively manage school meal debt”.
The council runs a cashless catering system, with online payments, which logs the level of credit against each pupil’s school meal account.
It intends to review its debt recovery procedures, however, currently reminders are issued to parents/carers as soon as an account goes into arrears.
After four days, a “more strongly worded email/letter/text is issued” then if no action is taken, the headteacher will contact parents/carers directly. They might be signposted to the council’s money advice and rights team.
Of the current debt, £26,333 is “historical” relating to pupils who have left school and £16,589 is current.
A council report added most of the debt is “small balances” which has “built-up over a number of years for pupils who have since left the establishment, the total amount is now considered irrecoverable”.
Short-term debts can be because parents/carers are unaware the account has moved into arrears or because families are “experiencing financial hardship and struggling to meet the costs of meals”, the report said.
The total debt “equates to around 1% of the total school meal income budget for 2022/23”. “Writing off this debt will allow families to have a clean slate as they move forward into the new financial year.”
The report added: “Following recent research into the scale of school meal debt faced by low income families not eligible for free school meals, the Aberlour Children’s Charity has called upon both the Scottish Government and local authorities to agree a debt amnesty for all outstanding school meal debt.
“Given the current cost of living crisis, the charity noted that ‘reducing the debt burden for those with school meal debts and supporting them to make sure their children do not go hungry at school would help alleviate some of the financial pressure for thousands of families across Scotland’.”
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