Free school meals and rail fares deliver double defeat for Scottish Government

The Scottish Government has suffered a double defeat as MSPs voted against its plans on free school meals and peak rail fares.

The votes are non-binding but do place pressure on ministers ahead of budget negotiations later this year.

A Conservative motion, debated on Wednesday afternoon, urged the government to provide free school lunches to “all primary school children, including provision in the school holidays, in this parliamentary session, as promised by the Scottish Government”.

It was supported by the other opposition parties, resulting in a vote of 64 to 2 in favour of the motion. 60 SNP MSPs abstained.

The Tories brought the debate after it was revealed that ministers were ditching a commitment on free school meals.

Currently all those in P1-P5 are in receipt, and the plan had been to roll that out to all P6s and P7s.

But First Minister John Swinney confirmed during last week’s FMQs that only older primary-aged children whose families were receiving the Scottish Child Benefit would be eligible by 2026.

Speaking in the debate, education secretary Jenny Gilruth said she continued to agree with the “principle” of the policy but insisted her government was hamstrung by tight finances, in part due to the UK Government.

Her amendment, which was defeated by 64 votes to 62, did not delete the call to deliver on the pledge but added “financial context”, she said. She claimed there was a £256m funding gap in her portfolio to deliver universality.

She said: “Right now, the government simply does not have the resources to deliver it.”

But opposition parties urged the government to prioritise the policy, given the first minister’s stated aim to eradicate child poverty.

Tory education spokesperson Liam Kerr accused the government of “warm words” on tackling poverty and said it had “never seriously tried to close the attainment gap”.

He estimated the policy would at the most cost £110m.

He said: “The SNP have shamefully betrayed Scotland’s poorest pupils. They’ve abandoned any pretence that they know how to eradicate the attainment gap and/or child poverty. And they have played fast and loose with the trust that the people of Scotland invested in them.”

Labour unsuccessfully amended the Conservative motion to highlight what it called “broken promises” to children and young people.

Education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy pointed to pledges made on class sizes, teacher numbers, free bikes and access to digital devices as evidence on undelivered commitments.

She added: “This matters, not least because people are sick of being promised stuff they don’t get, but because broken promises to young people impact education and stifle opportunity.”

MSPs also took part in a Tory-led debate on the reintroduction of peak rail fares. The party called for the minister to “reverse” the decision which will see the cost of train tickets rise significantly at the end of the month.

The Scottish Parliament voted in favour of that motion by 64 to 62.

Tory transport spokesperson Graham Simpson said the trial of removing peak fares had led to more people using the train. On the trial coming to an end he said: “If your policy is to get more people onto the roads, then this is genius.”

He added: “Public transport should be seen as a service; it should become the go-to choice. And when times are tough for people, we should not be making things harder.”

Scottish Labour have dubbed peak fares a “tax on workers” and attacked the government’s defence that the trial had largely benefitted middle-earners.

Transport spokesperson Alex Rowley said: “If you want people to move from car to public transport, ultimately these measures will have to benefit middle-earners as they are more likely to be driving than people on low incomes.

“Inspiring modal shift means targeting those that are driving and giving them a reason to change their mode of transport. That must mean making rail affordable, accessible, and reliable.”

But transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said the trial “did not achieve its original aims of achieving a significant modal shift”, as it fell short of the 10 per cent target for passenger increase.

Adding that she was “disappointed” it had not been a success, she said it was “not affordable” to retain the policy.

The Greens and Lib Dems supported both Conservative motions.