The number of children requiring free school meals is a ’national disgrace’, according to the island’s most senior politician.

David Cretney MLC, the longest-serving Tynwald member, has hit out after recent figures put the number of children on free school meals on 2,132, which was put at 18% of the total number of 11,660 pupils - although the free school meals number was based on July figures while the total number of pupils was based on an earlier figure.

In Tynwald last week Mr Cretney, who is the Manx Labour Party chairman, said free school meals figures were regarded as an indicator of poverty and the island’s figures were comparable with deprived areas in the UK and, ’for one of the wealthiest islands per capita they are nothing short of a national disgrace’.

He raised the issue with Education Minister Graham Cregeen, pointing to 65% rise in spending on school meals from 2012-2017, while school rolls remained ’stable’.

This, he said, showed ’a concerning increase in the level of poverty within the pupil population of Manx schools and with all the potential impact that that may have on educational attainment’.

Mr Cregeen said it was an area the Department of Education, Sport and Culture needed to work on with the social security section of government.

But he added: ’On levels of attainment, it is questionable whether, because people are on free school meals, the level of attainment is lower.’

Earlier, he explained: ’The department applies the number of pupils receiving free school meals as a main social factor in allocating school budgets.

’Within the budget calculation a weighting is applied to all schools when the number of free school meals supplied exceeds the average percentage.’

Staff levels and pupil ages were also considered, he said.

’This enables the department to ensure that areas of deprivation and lower age range demographics receive greater funding.’

Mr Cregeen agreed to investigate a concern raised by Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew) that the application process for free school meals was too onerous for some parents meaning some pupils were missing out.

Daphne Caine (Garff) asked whether the DESC would introduce the ’pupil premium’ system used in England, where schools received up to £1,200 per pupil on free school meals.

The minister replied: ’One of our headteachers is currently looking at the pupil premium.

’It will mean possibly a huge increase in the department’s budget and it is something that we will have to talk to Treasury about if we need to go down that line.’