SNP Bullies - Threaten Disabled Glaswegians (December 19, 2023)

Senior SNP councillors in Glasgow have been boasting of their decision to deal ‘sensitively’ with school meals debt at the same time as the city council is sending frightening letters to disabled people in the community threatening to cut off lifeline support services.

A ‘FINAL DEMAND - NOTICE OF RECOVERY’ letter is being sent to disabled Glaswegians which states:

“If payment is not received within 7 days of this letter the service you receive may be withdrawn and your account passed for further recover action. The council may pass this debt to our Debt Management Partner. The Council will also consider court action which could result in additional legal expenses being awarded against you and your credit rating being affected.”

Thousands of disabled Glasgow citizens have had charges for support services raised by eye-watering amounts, eg from £249 to £412 per month, but how can a two-thirds increase of 65% in a single year be fair or reasonable?

So far from being ‘sensitive’ I say this is ugly bullying behaviour by the SNP city council.

Yet The Herald published an article on school meals debt which had SNP Councillor Christina Cannon, the council’s convenor for education lavishing praise on the council for writing off school meals debt while planning to extend a free school meals service to children in Primaries 6 and 7:

”Addressing food insecurity and hunger has been a priority for the council and measures to support this have achieved cross party support, including millions of pounds of funding for our Holiday School and Activity Programme and local food growing.”

So why is SNP led Glasgow council treating some of its poorest, most vulnerable citizens in this shocking, shabby, discriminatory way?

I think we should be told.

 

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23818649.glasgow-city-council-writes-off-school-meal-debts/

Glasgow City Council writes off school meal debts

By Catriona Stewart - The Herald

Scotland's largest local authority is putting in place measures to ensure schools can deal sensitively with rising levels of school meal debt.

It was recently revealed that Renfrewshire Council had sent debt collectors to chase families who had accrued school meal debts, passing their details to sheriff officers Walker Love.

In Glasgow, a pupil survey showed high numbers of young people reporting going to school or to bed hungry - prompting action from education bosses.

Councillors have agreed to write off school meal debt and the city is looking at an expansion of free lunch provision to support struggling families.

Councillor Christina Cannon, who is the city's convenor for education, said: "Addressing food insecurity and hunger has been a priority for the council and measures to support this have achieved cross party support, including millions of pounds of funding for our Holiday School and Activity Programme and local food growing.

"The cost-of-living crisis, food inflation and the impact of Brexit is raising food insecurity in the city in ways that have not been seen for decades and that this is having a significant impact on people's health and wellbeing.

"Adequate nutrition is vital to allow our young people to reach their full potential and the nutritional value of School Meals is equally important in supporting our young people to make healthier choices."

The council's most recent school health and wellbeing census showed that nearly 60% of pupils reported that they sometimes go to bed or to school hungry while 3% said they always go to bed hungry.

Some 27% said they sometimes do, prompting councillors to give cross-party support to dealing with food insecurity in Glasgow families.

Glasgow City Council was the first to extend free school meals to primary four pupils and has increased catering facilities across the city for any further expansion to free school meals.

It is looking to expand universal free meal provision to all primary school levels.

As part of plans to support families, the council agreed at this year's March budget to write off school debt held centrally and also agreed to write off local levels of school debt where the debt amounts to the equivalent of one month's worth of meals.

School head teachers have now been told to run reports at least monthly to show current funding balances per child to give early warning of any financial worries and issues among sibling groups.

When any debt reaches £20, a letter or a text will be sent out to the family from the school and teachers must assess whether the parents are experiencing financial hardship.

The city has Financial Inclusion Service Officers (FISO) who can meet with parents and carers to offer support with applying for benefits and grants.

Any debts of more than £100 can be considered as hardship and referred to the council to be written off.

A report detailing how the authority will deal with rising school meal debts said this process had been followed by schools where debts had been accrued due to the death of a parent of a delay in the receipt of benefits.

A council spokesperson said: "At no point will a child be refused a meal if they have no credit on their parent pay account."

In some schools, the council said, head teachers must find ways to overcome language barriers as the payment system is only in English.

Cosla has developed guidelines for schools to manage free school meal debt but the approach across Scotland varies widely.

A freedom of information request showed the SNP-led Renfrewshire council sending sheriff officers to pursue monies owed by parents.

Dundee City Council sent 15,669 letters to parents and carers who have not activated their ParentPay account in 2022 to 23 to pay for meals but said "no child is ever denied their school meal."

Pupils from primary one to five are entitled to a free school meal during term time, meaning the issue affects families with older children.

Labour MSP Monica Lennon has been calling for the universal roll-out of free school meals to P6 and P7 pupils to be accelerated.

She said: "It’s shameful that hungry children and struggling families are being hounded over school meal debts and living in fear of sheriff officers banging on their door.

"Humza Yousaf must get a grip and stop the debt collectors.

"We need an immediate moratorium on school meal debt and an emergency Cabinet meeting to thrash out a new delivery plan for universal free school meals for primary six and seven pupils.

"Ending child hunger and binning the stigma associated with means-tested free school meals must be a genuine priority for the SNP-Scottish Green Government."

The Scottish Government said it has been working with council umbrella body Cosla to expand the provision of free school meals to P6 and P7 pupils in 2026.