Yet another £600 million down the drain

Loughton_Monkey

So now our Nanny State is deciding to give every school kid free school meals for the first 3 years. This just about takes the biscuit for yet another unaffordable gimmic designed to take even more responsibility away from parents and individuals.

All pupils at infant schools in England are to get free school lunches from next September, Lib Dem leader and Deputy PM Nick Clegg has announced.

The change - for children in reception, year one and year two - will save parents about £400 a year per child.

Targeting infants would ensure "every child gets the chance in life they deserve", teach healthy eating habits and boost attainment, Mr Clegg said.

But Labour said the Lib Dems could not be trusted to deliver.

Money is being provided for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to emulate the English scheme, but as education is a devolved issue, it is up to those running schools there to decide whether to spend the money on free lunches.

A Scottish government spokesman said: "We are committed to expanding this provision further and, once we see the financial implications of this announcement for Scotland, we will examine how best to deliver that expansion."

'Feeling the squeeze'

Free primary school meals for all pupils was one of the recommendations of a recent review of school food by two founders of the Leon restaurant chain for the Department for Education

.....

At the moment free school meals are available to all children whose parents are on benefits or earn less than £16,190 a year.

Providing them for all infants will cost an estimated £600m and comes after the previously universal child benefit was cut for those earning more than £50,000 a year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24132416

Cleggie reckons it's 'worth' £400 a year per child. So they don't need to feed the kid much when it gets home, and parents can swan off to the pub with more in their pocket.

Yet another costly 'benefit' which will be just like the heating allowance. It will be impossible to take away. In fact once it happens, it will just create criticism "why can't 8 to 11 year olds get it....?" and it won't take long to creep in for the entire school life. In fact the NUT has already lambasted Cleggie:

Children "do not stop being hungry at seven years-of-age", said general secretary Christine Blower.

We are getting to the stage where it will become "accepted" that babies are born, get free food all the time up to secondary education, after which they are given a house, benefits, and finally a bus pass, an old age pension - plus, of course, a heating allowance.

What next? Free 2 week all-inclusive holidays? Free computers and Broadband? A Christmas Hamper? And when all the buses have been stopped, a free household car?

I am absolutely appalled.

Graham_Devon

Not as appauled as you will be now you leanr it will save me £1,200 according to those figures!

Rejoice!

Now be a love, and hand over your gin and tonic

TruckerT

Margaret Thatcher/milk snatcher - what goes around, comes around

TruckerT

Loughton_Monkey

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Not as appauled as you will be now you leanr it will save me £1,200 according to those figures!

Rejoice!

Now be a love, and hand over your gin and tonic

Well you can afford your own now.

I suspect they will put enough E-numbers and stuff in them to keep the kids quiet all afternoon, but hyper-active once they get home.

globalds

I would think child benefit will either not go up or even fall slightly as this will be classed as just a reallocation of those resources.

If that is the case it would make sense to do this as at least the kid gets something out of CB before the parents spend it on something else.

chewmylegoff

Excellent. I am delighted to pay more tax so the children of rich parents can have a free lunch at my expense. There may have been an argument for increasing the threshold but this is just a waste of money.

grizzly1911

Well fed kids can concentrate more and therefore develop and learn quicker apparently. got to cram all that early learning in ready for future education inflation.

I can understand free school meals for those that need it but I wonder how much is just going to end up in the bin and won't be to Sophie or Preston's taste when the "rich" kids get it.

grizzly1911

globalds wrote: »

If that is the case it would make sense to do this as at least the kid gets something out of CB before the parents spend it on something else.

Or putting it straight in the ISA.

TruckerT

Is this proposal seriously going to happen? How long is it guaranteed to continue? I think N.Clegg has been stitched up by D.Cameron.

TruckerT

Loughton_Monkey

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Well fed kids can concentrate more and therefore develop and learn quicker apparently. got to cram all that early learning in ready for future education inflation......

That may be so. Other development needs include a good night's sleep, a stimulating environment, and exercise.

So let's recruit an army of welfare workers to go round every house, of every child, to play stimulating games with them, put them to bed early, read them a story, ensure they go to sleep. Then they can call and get them up in time for school.....

Parents who don't feed their kids should be identified, exposed, vilified, prosecuted, and ultimately have the kids taken away. This is how people learn. They do not learn by signals that feeding their own children is not their own responsibility.

Loughton_Monkey

TruckerT wrote: »

Is this proposal seriously going to happen? How long is it guaranteed to continue? I think N.Clegg has been stitched up by D.Cameron.

TruckerT

The other way round, surely?