Mr. Stephen Moffatt:

In terms of the specifics around the hot school meals programme, we know from the evaluations that have been done of the benefits to the brains of children and, obviously, the Deputy outlined some of the benefits he has personally experienced. We appreciate that this should be available to all children who would benefit from it. It has been around for long enough that we do not need to slowly roll it out piecemeal. We should acknowledge that it has been further rolled out over the last couple of years. What we know is that not all the schools that applied for the hot school meals programme were accepted onto it. At the very least, every single school that applies for it and meets certain criteria should be able to have its students benefit from it. That is the very first step.

In the longer term, there are obviously issues in that some schools would not be practically placed to be able to be part of the scheme because of the facilities they have. As schools are built, we need to ensure there are kitchen facilities and, where possible, to refurbish existing schools. That is another step that needs to be taken.

In terms of the wider question around DEIS, it is certainly something we understand and appreciate. Among the children using and benefiting from our services, not all of the children experiencing disadvantage are living in areas where they go to DEIS schools. It is certainly something that we must examine to see what impact it has or what it means if children do not have the same sort of support they might have within a DEIS school.

The Government has provided additional money towards DEIS in the recent budget, which is welcome. It is probably a longer-term issue about how the Government builds a strategy around supporting those children who are experiencing disadvantage but who do not live within a DEIS school area. There needs to be a clear plan as to what is going to happen with those children. Is it right that they do not have the same access to support? Is that acceptable? We would argue that the Government needs to think about that in the longer term and really look to address it. Some of that might be addressed by putting more money into DEIS schools so they cover a wider area, and some of it might be having a specific strategy that looks to address the issue of children who are experiencing disadvantage in their education but who might be living in a slightly more affluent area.