Free school meals to all secondary school pupils - Plaid Cymru council election pledge
Plaid Cymru led-councils will “commit to aim of extending free school meals to all secondary school pupils” – Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price
Plaid Cymru Local Authorities will commit to the aim of extending universal Free School Meals to include secondary school pupils during the next council term, Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price MS has said.
Adam Price was speaking ahead of his keynote speech to his party’s Spring Conference in Cardiff this weekend.
The Co-Operation Agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government commits to £200m to deliver free school meals for all primary school children – with the roll-out expected to begin in September.
However, Mr Price announced today that his party will “take the policy further” and that Plaid Cymru-led councils would “commit to setting the goal and begin immediately planning” to extend universal Free School Meals to all secondary school pupils within the next five years.
Reflecting on a post-pandemic Wales and looking ahead to local government elections in May, Mr Price is also expected to pay tribute to Plaid Cymru led councils and councillors who “build the nation from the bottom up”.
The Plaid Cymru Leader will also reaffirm his and his party’s solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
Speaking on the pledge for extending free school meals, Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price MS will say:
“Midway through the last Senedd we resolved to make free school meals for all primary school children our number one priority. It was the one sure way, within the powers of the Senedd that we could make an impact on the curse of child poverty in Wales, that impacts on a third of our children.
“It gets rid of dinner money debt and scraps the stigma associated with getting a free lunch and means children get a healthy, hot meal at a formative stage in their development - because hungry children can’t learn, can’t grow and can’t achieve their true potential.
“Universal Free School Meals is only happening because of Plaid Cymru's co-operative working – together, we are making a difference to the lives of people and communities up and down Wales.
“We are now planning to take the policy further. I can announce today that a key part of our offer in the forthcoming council election campaign is that Plaid Cymru-led councils will commit to setting the goal and begin immediately planning to extend universal Free School Meals to all secondary school pupils within the next five years.”
Adam Price is expected to add:
“Through Free School Meals for all we will begin to create a Wales free of hunger and poverty. Through our National Care Service we will create a Wales free of worry in old age. Through rent control and a right to housing we will create a Wales free of homelessness. And through free universal early learning and childcare, high-quality, bilingual, and free we will build a Wales in which every child can become the adult they were meant to be.
“This is why the local elections are so important. Every Plaid councillor elected, every Plaid council formed, is building the nation from the bottom up.