Order, Order

We turn now to a vote on the Free School Meals Expansion (Wales) Bill.

Free School Meals Expansion Bill

A

BILL

TO

Expand free school meals to all students in Wales regardless of parental income.

be enacted by the Senedd Cymru and having received the assent of His Majesty, it is enacted as follows

Section 1 - Definitions

(1) A student shall refer to any child studying full time between key stage 1 to 3 or nursery.

(2) A place of education shall refer to primary schools and secondary/comprehensive schools along with schools with integrated nursery.

(3) A free meal shall be defined as a meal provided by a place of education for students that is provided without charge of the student or parent.

Section 2 - Providing Meals

(1) Every student who is in attendance on a school day must be provided with a free school meal by their place of education.

i. Students who wish to not have a meal by their own choice may not take a meal.

(2) Places of education may not collect funds from parents/guardians nor students as compensation for the free meals provided to students.

(3) Places of education must ensure these free school meals are to a satisfactory and nutritional value.

(4) Food that has been prepared but not used will be given to local charities that are dealing with homeless people.

(5) A school must take into account the allergies, medical intolerances, and other dietary requirements of a student and provide alternatives.

(6) A school must be able to provide halal, kosher and other foods that comply with religious beliefs, for its students.

(7) A school must always provide a Vegan option for its students.

Section 3 - Holiday Provision for School Meals

(1) Free school meals will be provided during school holidays to students who’s parents or guardians are eligible for the following benefits:

i. Universal Credit II. Child Tax Credit III. The guaranteed element of Pension Credit IV. Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance V. Income-based Employment and Support Allowance VI. Income Support VII. Support under section VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 VIII. Any successor benefit to the above

(2) The relevant local authority shall decide the method of the meal allocation during school holidays

Section 4 - Government Funding & Usage of Funds

(1) The Welsh Government must allocate appropriate funding for free school meals for schools across Wales

(2) Any money not used will be handed back to the Government.

(3) This money shall not be used for anything else other than funding the free school meals and ensuring provision of such.

(4) If there is no manual increase or change to the budgetary requirements of this bill then the amount needing allocating will increase per each new school year by whichever is highest of 6% or inflation.

Section 4 - Commencement & Short Title

(1) This bill shall come into force on the 1st August 2023.

(2) This bill may be cited as the Free School Meals Expansion Act 2023.

This Bill has been submitted by u/Dyn-Cymru on behalf of Llafur Cymru and is sponsored by Independent u/PoliticoBailey.

Opening speech.

Llywydd,

Schools are where some of the most important lessons are learned, many key skills are learnt in early education and the understanding of these subjects will determine if a student can understand more complex subjects later on in life so again these core parts of the Education system are important.

That is why no child in Wales should go hungry even after they've started secondary/comprehensive school, this is where key skills such as numeracy, important grammatical distinctions (for both English and Welsh) are taught. More importantly this is when GCSEs are sat and these exams are sat, determining some peoples futures.

Many studies have shown education is less effective when students haven't eaten and therefore hungry students have a poorer standard of education. That is why I am proud to present this bill as it will put everyone on a level playing field and ensure everyone has a full stomach when they sit their exams next summer.

This bill will also let parents have some rest during a more and more expensive time as it is one less meal they have to pay for, this will help the ones most hit in life and this will give parents that before wouldn't have qualified for free school meals the extra change they need to get by, equalising society even out of the classroom. The cost of this is relatively quite small with the cost being under 180 Million pounds by 2026 with it starting off at just over 160 Million for the 2024 school year.

I urge all members to vote for this bill as we ensure that disadvantages such as poverty that affect children are minimised during their GCSE studies, ensuring that they can get the best grades they can and prepare themselves for a better future, one where no child's stomach is empty.

Link to the Debate

Voting on this bill will end at the close of business on 11th of June at 10pm BST