A BID to slash the price of school meals in the region’s 63 primary schools has been rejected by councillors.

Among a range of increased fees due to be implemented in 2015/16, Scottish Borders Council’s ruling administration proposed that the charge for a primary meal should be hiked up by 5% for a second successive year – from £2 to £2.10 – in August.

With all P1-3 children in the Borders entitled to free meals as part of a £1.3m Scottish Government initiative, the charge is only levied on pupils in P4-7.

But according to Councillor Michelle Ballantyne (Selkirkshire), the upshot of increasing the price from £1.90 to the current level has already resulted in a reduction of uptake among that latter age group At an SBC budget meeting, the leader of the Conservative opposition group claimed the uptake of meals among those whose were not exempt from payment had fallen to 39 per cent.

She moved that the price should be cut to £1.50 – at an annual cost to the council of £35,000.

“The meals offered by the council’s catering department, who strongly support my proposal, provide choice and nutrition and significantly contribute to the Better Eating, Better Learning campaign,” said Councillor Ballantyne.

“Cutting the price to £1.50, which would cost parents less than the average packed lunch, would, say our catering staff, increase uptake to at least 45% of those pupils who pay for meals.

“It stands to reason that if we keep putting up the price year on year, then fewer children will be able to access a healthy nutritious lunch.

“We must make it affordable and be mindful that an increased uptake will reduce the cost of delivery through economies of scale. It’s a win, win situation.” But Councillor Sandy Aitchison, executive member for education, defended the 5 per cent increase and disputed Councillor Ballantyne's figures.

“My impression is that the uptake of school meals is going up, not down, and I am quite happy with our strategy,” he stated.

On a division, the council voted 21-9 to reject Mrs Ballantyne’s proposal along with another budget amendment from the Conservatives – the reinstatement of a £150,000 cut in SBC’s commissioning costs for the provision of services for children and young people from voluntary organisations.

“These are services that support vulnerable youngsters and provide somewhere they can go – such as a youth club – where they feel safe and supported,” said Mrs Ballantyne.

“For every £1 we give a good quality voluntary organisation, we get £5 back because it allows them to access grant funding, so making this efficiency saving will undoubtedly have an adverse effect on important services and will have significant consequences for the future.” After the meeting, Mrs Ballantyne told the Peeblesshire News: “While the Conservative group was happy to support the majority of what was in a revenue budget worth over £254m, we asked for just two small amendments. It was clear, however, that the SNP/Lib Dem/Independent administration came to the meeting with no interest whatsoever in considering any changes which is as disappointing as it is predictable.”