Sort the School Debt Campaign

That the Parliament notes the Sort the School Debt campaign and the work of the children's charity, Aberlour, in its call to scrap the school meal arrears that 30,000 children in Scotland are reportedly currently in with local authorities; understands that there is a continuing increase in the number of children entering arrears; notes with concern reports that, in 2023 alone, there has been an increase of approximately 10,000 children who are now in school meal debt; further notes the belief that, in what it sees as an energy-rich nation as wealthy as Scotland, it is a moral outrage that children are in school meal debt, and notes the view that action should be taken to ensure that all school meal debt is written off and that, in the upcoming Budget 2024-25, funding is put in place to roll out universal free school meals for all school children in Scotland, including in the Edinburgh Eastern constituency.