Falkirk Council reportedly has backlog of 800 applications for free school meals and school uniform grants

The parent, who wanted to remain anonymous, added she had applied for the grants when they first opened on June 1 and was still waiting to hear if she had been successful.

She said: “I’ve phoned them a few times now over the last couple of weeks. The first time I called up they said there was a bit of a delay and they said it could take up to 28 days. Then they said eight weeks – but this has been well over eight weeks.

"The told me they had over 800 applications still to be looked at and I said, but we’re just a week away from school starting – so there are around 800 pupils who will not have uniforms or free school meals when school starts.

"She said she was not allowed to put calls through to the department that was dealing with it at the moment. My husband lost his job because of the lockdown, but think about all the people who have lost their jobs because of COVID-19 and they have had to apply for these grants.

“I had seen over the last few days a couple of parents querying this but did not think the problem was this big.”

Falkirk Council have still to respond to The Falkirk Herald request for comment on the matter.