Scottish Government high level action plan in response to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

16: Food

Thematic Tags

Right to adequate food; Social Security; Poverty; Food Insecurity; Tax

Concluding Observation 49a

The Committee recommends that the State Party, along with the devolved governments […] Expedite the adoption of a comprehensive national strategy for the protection and promotion of the right to adequate food, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to address food insecurity and reduce reliance on food banks, setting clear, time-bound targets and establishing appropriate mechanisms to assess progress.

Context

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 places duties on Scottish Ministers, councils, and health boards to produce plans that set out the main outcomes to be achieved in relation to food related issues, the policies needed to do this and the measures we will use to assess progress. The act provides that, when developing good food nation action plans, Scottish Ministers and relevant authorities are required to consider that access to adequate food is recognised as a human right and is linked to the realisation of other human rights. The act also stipulates that Scottish Ministers must consider Article 11 of the ICESCR – specifically regarding adequate food – when preparing the national good food nation plan.

In June 2023 we published the ending the need for food banks in Scotland plan to improve our response to the food insecurity crisis and to use a cash first approach so that fewer people need to use food banks. We are taking forward nine actions over three years (2023-26) and the plan is backed by funding of £1.8 million.

Key Actions

We are currently updating the proposed National Good Food Nation Plan following parliamentary scrutiny. The final plan will be published by the end of 2025 and will include outcomes and indicators. This will be followed by relevant authority (council and health boards) Good Food Nation Plans.

We will create a new public body, the Scottish Food Commission, which will have an oversight role to assess the progress and effectiveness of Good Food Nation Plans by both Scottish Ministers and relevant authorities.

We are investing around £465,000 for inclusive community-led responses that maximise dignity and integrate help to reduce the future need for food banks. This funding will be used to redistribute high quality surplus food to community organisations with an emphasis on shared meals and cash-first; develop a food security learning and resource centre; and enhance dignity in food provision.

In July 2025, we published an interim independent evaluation of the cash-first programme highlighting the individual work of the eight cash-first partnerships and the impact of the programme. We will publish the final evaluation report by spring 2026 and consider and share it widely to inform future policy development by both central and local government.

Concluding Observations

49b: The Committee recommends that the State Party, along with the devolved governments: Take measures to address the triple burden of malnutrition (under-nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight/obesity).

49c: The Committee recommends that the State Party, along with the devolved governments […] Ensure that social protection programmes target those most in need of access to healthy and nutritious food.

Context

No one should go hungry in Scotland, and we are committed to ensuring that everyone has access to healthy and nutritious food. Our vision is for a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight. This is set out in our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan and we continue to make progress on the implementation of a range of actions across five key outcomes: giving children the best start in life; creating a healthier food environment; better access to weight management services; leadership across all sectors promoting healthy weight and diet and reducing health inequalities. This vision is restated in our Population Health Framework. This framework will embed a prevention-led approach across all sectors, addressing inequality, enhancing economic opportunity, and shaping environments that enable healthier choices.

Free school meals are a crucial element of our ambition to eradicate child poverty, and they are currently available to over 230,000 pupils across Scotland, saving families who take up the offer around £450 per child per year.

We provided £2.5 million in funding to health boards and local partners between 2020-21 and 2023-24 to encourage healthy eating and physical activity in children aged zero-five at risk of health inequalities, and their families. Over £530,000 was additionally provided to ten boards for projects in 2023-24, including specialised training for practitioners, increasing physical activity, and support for those experiencing food insecurity.

Key Actions

We are developing a new diet and healthy weight implementation plan to support the ambitions set out in the population health framework and deliver our vision of a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight.

We are continuing to provide funding for inclusive community-led responses that maximise dignity and integrate help to reduce future need. This includes £100,000 for regional community food networks which help the most marginalised communities get access to healthier food options.

We continue to invest £169.8 million annually to support free school meals (FSM) for all pupils in P1 to P5, and in special schools, plus eligible pupils in P6 to S6 during term time. In 2025-26, £37 million was allocated to the current phase of FSM expansion among pupils in P6 and 7. This phased expansion began rolling out in February 2025 and will support a further 25,000 pupils in P6 and P7 whose families are in receipt of the SCP. Once this phase is completed, 84% of all pupils in primary schools in Scotland will be eligible to receive a meal.

We are providing £3 million to support a test of change (ToC) for FSM to pupils from families in receipt of the SCP in S1 to S3 in selected schools within eight local authority areas. We will work closely with local authorities in the coming months to help establish the ToC which will support around 6,100 newly eligible pupils across 60 schools. The ToC will be independently evaluated which will help inform any future phases of the programme.

We are expanding and enhancing access to breakfast clubs for children in primary and special schools over the 2025-26 academic year through the new £3 million bright start breakfasts fund. 490 breakfast clubs have been awarded funding which will establish 142 new clubs, creating almost 9,000 breakfast club places, and supporting up to 20,000 children to access a healthy breakfast so they can start their school day ready to learn.

We continue to provide support, via best start foods to low income families, to help mothers buy healthy foods like milk or fruit during pregnancy and for children under 3. Forecasts show that 47,000 people will receive £17 million of support through best start foods in 2025-26.

We are continuing to provide £125,300 to Food Train to deliver two projects, eat well age well, and meal makers, aimed at addressing malnutrition in older people.

We are considering the recommendations of the prevention, early detection and early intervention on malnutrition and dehydration working group. The recommendations made are being used to develop our upcoming Diet and Healthy Weight Implementation Plan, including to review the Food Fluid and Nutritional Care Standards (2014), in alignment with the Scottish Population Health Framework publication.

Concluding Observations

49d: The Committee recommends that the State Party, along with the devolved governments […] Promote balanced diets through effective social and behavioural change communication strategies and ensure the affordability of diversified diets.

49e: The Committee recommends that the State Party, along with the devolved governments: Introduce higher taxes on junk food and sugary drinks and strengthen regulations on the marketing of such products.

Context

We want everyone in Scotland to live healthy, happy lives for as long as possible. Supporting people’s health and wellbeing is key to reducing inequality, tackling child poverty and building a fairer Scotland. Our Population Health Framework will complement work being taken forward through the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, to make a clear contribution to realising our health and social care vision.

Key Actions

We will develop a new Diet and Healthy Weight Implementation Plan (due summer/autumn 2026), to deliver our vision of a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight. The Plan is expected to span a wide range of policy across Government, with a primary focus on prevention. Mass media campaigns are part of a range of intervention types that could be used, although evidence suggests that interventions that are more upstream and less reliant on personal behavioural change are more effective and less likely to lead to a widening of inequalities.

The Food (Promotion and Placement) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 were laid in the Scottish Parliament on 31 October 2025. The regulations aim to reduce overconsumption of food and drink within targeted categories that are significant contributors of calories, fat, sugar or salt to the Scottish diet, including those of most concern to childhood obesity. This will encourage healthier options and make it easier for people to eat well by making the balance of foods available on promotion healthier and restricting the location of less healthy foods both in stores and online. The regulations deliver one of the first actions under the Population Health Framework and will come into force on 1 October 2026.