A Highlands and Islands Labour MSP is calling upon the SNP Scottish Government to ensure Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar does not have to cut teacher numbers to fund its promise to introduce Free School Meals for pupils of parents who are in receipt of maximum child tax credit and maximum working tax credit.

Peter Peacock recently contacted all councils in the Highlands and Islands asking them for costs of implementation and whether they have received funding from the Scottish Government to pay for the measure.

"Most councils could not give me figures but confirmed that the measure would be costly.

"The Western Isles Director of Finance said that at this stage he could not estimate how much the extra school meals would cost.

"He said that increased costs in food already meant the school meals service was facing a deficit for the first time in years.

"The only council which had figures at this stage was Highland which revealed it was facing a bill of £1,520,000.

"The Councils also confirmed that no budget allocation has been made available," he said.

"We have the ludicrous situation where the Government say they have funded the move but the councils which would have provided the estimated costs do not even know what the cost would be in most cases.

"This is a farce.

"We are talking about the money to help those most in need who are claiming benefits - if Councils are already telling the Government they can't fund this - how will they ever fund meals for all Primary 1-3s too.

"It is widely known that the SNP-led Scottish Government is incapable of managing its finances properly but this beggars belief.

"How can you claim to have funded something without even knowing how much it would cost?

"I am, therefore, asking the Scottish Government to revisit the issue and ensure that sufficient funds are made available to councils to implement the measure without teacher numbers having to be reduced to pay for it."