LIMITATIONS regarding data held by government has created challenges in fulfilling a Budget pledge to widen access for school lunches, the Education Minister has admitted.
Deputy Catherine Curtis said further work would be required in order to meet the commitment to invest an additional £250,000 in the pilot scheme for free meals for primary school pupils.
The minister was responding to a written question from Deputy Louise Doublet, who was seeking an update after successfully bringing an amendment regarding the funding during the Budget debate last December.
Deputy Curtis confirmed that work around the feasibility of extending the criteria had started, but added that the government did not “routinely hold” data identifying households that would otherwise qualify for Income Support, were they not owner-occupiers of a mortgaged residence.
“As a result, it is not currently possible to quantify this cohort or accurately assess the impact of extending eligibility to these households without further investigative work,” she said. “Officers are continuing to explore whether any alternative data sources or methodologies could support the analysis required.
“Where eligibility groups cannot be robustly identified using existing government data, this may present challenges in assessing or implementing specific options.”
Deputy Curtis said no options had been formally ruled out, and said she would issue an update to the States Assembly by the end of December.
