An extra week of free school meal payments is being made to qualifying Dundee families as part of the city’s efforts to combat the ongoing impact of coronavirus.
The original scheme which began at the start of lockdown was extended over the summer holidays and was due to finish on Monday August 10
However, the city council has been able to maximise the grants provided by the Scottish Government to ensure an extra week’s payment.
Nearly 7,000 families with children eligible for free school meals have received the weekly payments of £11.25 per child directly to their bank accounts.
With schools returning, the usual arrangements for free school meals will now be reapplied from Monday August 17.
Children and families service convener Councillor Stewart Hunter said: “I am pleased that we have been able to extend the scheme for an extra week, as I know this has made a big difference to families not only over the summer holiday period, but since the start of lockdown.
“Although schools have now restarted, all pupils are not attending full-time until next week so it was important we could bridge any gap with this extra week of payments.
“We know the impact that these payments have made to many families, with several parents getting in touch with us to share their appreciation of this valuable support.”
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
