Gwynedd Council will not increase the cost of school dinners.

The council decided to freeze the daily cost, for the second year in a row.

It will also commission a study on paid school meals and how to encourage more families to use the service.

Members voted not to go ahead with a recommended 10p hike to £2.60 a day – or £13 a week – after concerns were raised it would further hamper take-up of the daily hot meals offering as well as hinder the council’s aim of ensuring more equality.

A 2019 Cabinet report found that a decision in 2017 to hike the daily cost had achieved less savings than they’d hoped due to several families deciding to move away from school meals as a result.

Figures from last year showed that an average of 46 per cent of Gwynedd primary pupils were choosing a school meal, down from 50 per cent in 2016/17.

A total of 1,234 parents filled out a council questionnaire last autumn, with 134 respondents saying school meals were too expensive.

Dropping the price would encourage 142 to choose school meals for their children.

Despite the price freeze – which will cost the education department around £48,000 this year – it still means the £2.50 daily cost of school meals in Gwynedd is more expensive than 13 of Wales’ 22 authorities and cheaper than only four.

But meeting on Tuesday, Cabinet members said they were concerned about the resulting implications of a further hike on families during a time of economic hardship for many.

As a result, they voted to proceed with a report looking at their future options and how more families could be encouraged to take up school dinners.

“Fundamentally I’m uncomfortable with the idea of an income target when it comes to school meals as it’s an incredibly sad statistic that one in three Welsh children are currently living in poverty,” said Cllr Catrin Wager.

“I feel that we need to tackle this as a society, but as an authority we can also do all we can to ensure that all children receive a hot and hearty meal while at school.

“I understand that free school meals help many but not everyone as there are examples of families receiving working tax credits not being eligible for free meals despite being on low incomes and such a daily cost not necessarily being affordable.”

Cllr Gareth Thomas encouraged all families eligible for free school meals and other benefits to ensure they were claiming what they were owed, while Cllr Dafydd Meurig stated his wish that school meals were available free of charge to all children across the board.

The Cabinet voted unanimously to commission the education department’s study.