Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1510993
21 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 NOVEMBER 2023 BUDGET2024 Budget cuts for breakfast clubs and afterschool services Government unresponsive on proposed traffic-easing measures KURT SANSONE THE budget for student after school services will be halved next year in a departure from the Labour government's poli- cy since 2013 to sustain work- ing parents. The budget for Klabb 3-16, a service operated by the Foun- dation for Educational Servic- es, will be slashed to €4.8 mil- lion, a reduction of just over €4 million when compared to 2023. It is unclear how the signifi- cant cut in budget will impact the services offered by Klabb 3-16. According to information submitted in parliament last May by Education Minister Clifton Grima in reply to a question by Labour MP Car- melo Abela, there are 37 cen- tres offering the Klabb 3-16 service, catering for a total of 5,528 students. The afterschool service, which is available until 6pm, helps students with their homework and also offers art, drama, physical education, games, and other fun activities. The service is offered at a nominal price of 80c per hour but students on Scheme 9 and those referred by the Founda- tion for Social Welfare Servic- es do not pay. The budget estimates pre- sented alongside the budget speech show a similar cut in funds for the breakfast club budget. Funding for the break- fast club service has been cut for next year by €200,000 to €1 million. Breakfast clubs are organised by the individual schools and are supervised by teachers and LSEs against extra remunera- tion. The budget cut will prob- ably reflect itself in a reduction in the number of staff, leading to a higher student-to-adult ratio. The breakfast club is offered in all State schools, enabling working parents to take their children to school as early as 7am where they will also bene- fit from a breakfast meal. Both services had been championed by the incoming Labour government in 2013 as tools to help working parents better manage their work-life balance. But next year will also see the 'head of school fund', in- troduced in the last couple of years to give heads €10,000 to assist students coming from needy families, has also been cut to €750,000 from €1 mil- lion. A separate vote, the social fund for students in difficulty, meanwhile, will remain static at €800,000. MATTHEW FARRUGIA GOVERNMENT has not given details of its plan to ensure that certain services that require road access do not start before 9am. Announced in the budget for the second year running, the proposal was not fleshed out and questions sent by Malta- Today went unanswered. In his budget speech, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana an- nounced that government is finalising a plan which is the result of a consultation process with a number of stakeholders to reduce traffic during rush hour. The consultation process seemingly lasted an entire year, as Caruana had announced that government would begin such discussions with stakeholders in his Budget 2023 speech. It remains unclear when the plan will be finalised and pub- lished. Meanwhile, the Transport Ministry's financial estimates shows a substantial number of budget cuts in various pro- grammes and initiatives. For instance, the National Marine Pollution Contingency Plan's (NMPCP) funds have been halved, leaving only €100,000 in next year's budget. The NMPCP covers Mal- ta's contingency plans in case of oil spills in Maltese waters. Transport Malta is responsible for maintaining and running its offshore oil response equip- ment, including pumps, sur- face skimmers, and pollution containment booms, through its Pollution and Incidence Re- sponse Unit. Government's spending relat- ed to electric vehicles has also seen notable cuts. For instance, grants for electric vehicles have been slashed by more than half, as next year's budget allocates €2.6 million,down from €8.7 million in 2023. Meanwhile, a line item named, 'Repowering for Elec- tric Drive' has seen its funding cut to €30,000 from €50,000 this year, and another line item named, 'Training and Upgrad- ing (Electric Vehicles)' has lost €40,000 in funding between 2023 and 2024. On the other hand, a fund of €2 million, €700,000 more than this year, has been allocated for the scrappage scheme to pur- chase a motor cycle, while the car scrappage scheme retains the same budget of €300,000. Another notable increase in the Transport Ministry's budget concerns public trans- port, as the ministry's estimates show an additional €9 million allocated for public transport, for a total subsidy of €49 mil- lion. One big increase in fund- ing can be seen regarding the Tal-Linja Card, as this initiative will be funded by a subsidy of €25 million next year, up from €14 million in 2023. Tal-Linja Card users are entitled to free public transport. Meanwhile, another one of the ministry's public ser- vice obligations - inter-island transportation - is subject to a budget cut of €2.1 million. Breakfast clubs in all State schools were introduced in 2014 as a measure to help working parents (File photo)