North Ayrshire Council has agreed to pay off outstanding debt for school meals in a one-off move to help support families through the current cost-of-living crisis.

The move - agreed by a meeting of elected members – means the council will meet the costs, allowing parents to start the new school year with a clean slate.

Debt for school meals in primary schools across North Ayrshire is currently around £80,000 while the figure for secondary schools is currently around £14,000.

Councillor Shaun Macaulay, cabinet member for education and young people, said this was a one-off move to support families.

He added: “Since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic followed by the cost-of-living crisis, we have been at the forefront of finding ways to support families and vulnerable residents in particular.

“We have to be clear that this isn’t about scrapping debt – we are paying off the current outstanding balance which will allow families to start again without worrying about any outstanding sums.

“We have listened to our residents through our recent mini-enquiries and we are using all means at our disposal to mitigate current economic conditions.

“We want to allow some breathing space for families as the cost-of-living crisis and inflation continue to squeeze their finances.

“With the full roll-out of universal free schools meals in our primary schools on the way, families will have less to worry about and this will remove any issues of debt accumulating in our primary schools.

“Going forward, we have procedures in place to manage school meal debt in our secondary schools and support families through referrals to support services.”

North Ayrshire Council already follows the recommendations of Cosla's Good Practice Principles for School Meal Debt Management.

However, after the announcement, Labour councillor Nairn McDonald said: "Its a shame it has taken the Labour Group nine months to get the SNP administration to do something other councils have already done.

"Scrapping school meal debt is about giving a bit of dignity back to parents and making sure that during this ongoing cost-of-living crisis, feeding their kids at school isnt another pressure being added on unnecessarily.

"Unless the Scottish Government intervenes and rolls out universal free school meals for all pupils as soon as possible we will be in the same position next year, and the year after and so on.

"This is totally unsustainable and deserves action from Holyrood and the SNP administration in North Ayrshire.”