Section 53(2) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 (“the 1980 Act”) provides that an education authority must provide or secure the provision of a school lunch (as defined in section 53(12)) free of charge to pupils falling within section 53(7).

Regulation 2(2) modifies the income threshold in section 53(7)(aa) to provide that a pupil falls within section 53(7) if the parents of the pupil are in receipt of an award of child tax credit and working tax credit where the income as calculated for the purpose of awarding those tax credits does not exceed £7,500.

Regulation 2(3) modifies section 53(7) to provide that a pupil falls within that section if the pupil or the parents are in receipt of universal credit, provided the pupil or parents’ earned income, either as an individual who is not a member of a couple or as a member of a couple, does not exceed £625 in the assessment period immediately preceding the application for a free school lunch being made.

Regulation 3 makes consequential amendments to the Education (School Lunches) (Scotland) Regulations 2009.