Caterers fear spending cuts will lead to school meal price rises

The event is taking place at the Novotel London West, Hammersmith and the Keynote Speaker is the Shadow Education Minister, Sharon Hodgson MP. We look at some of the concerns raised by LACA. Future Funding and Management of School Meals Unprecedented challenges lie ahead for Local Authority catering and LACA is concerned that, in the wake of widespread belt tightening, school meal services are protected as much as possible. Given the contribution school meals can make to children's health and the hard work of the past five years in transforming the school meals service, LACA would like to see the Government ensure that it remains sufficiently funded and affordable for all parents. Whilst school meal providers were gratified to see, as part of the Government's recent Comprehensive Spending Review, the retention of the School Lunch Grant within the revenue grants in schools' baseline funding after March 2011, it is disappointing that it has not been ring fenced for school catering. This means that head teachers could decide to spend it elsewhere other than for its designated purpose. There are many other issues to be debated at the event. A number of Local Authorities have already been re-considering the level of service they can continue to provide. Some are looking to become 'enabling' authorities which means that they will outsource services from alternative organisations such as private companies. Others are withdrawing from providing a centrally managed service but allowing schools to take responsibility for their own school meals. LACA is deeply concerned about the level of fragmentation and dilution school meals services might potentially face if more and more Local Authorities feel forced to take these routes. Higher Costs and Increased School Meal Prices There are a number of other concerns for the school meal providers. The combined effect of spending cuts, rising food costs and unemployment could result in school meal price increases for parents or in some areas, the spectre of school meals services becoming unviable altogether. With unemployment figures likely to grow, more and more families could become eligible for Free School Meals thereby boosting the number of children in school who will need to be provided for. Thousands of children and young people nationwide have been enjoying highly nutritious, freshly prepared school meals and in the past year, school meal uptake rose in both primary and secondary schools for the first time since 2005. This indicated that we are turning the corner and even in secondary schools where there had been earlier resistance to healthier options, young people are slowly being converted. Having made this progress, it is absolutely essential that those at the frontline of school catering services continue to receive the support necessary from Government in order to maintain the standard and quality of school meals. With financial resources becoming scarce, the question is how can school meal providers continue to deliver on quality and prices as well as meet the Nutritional Standards in the future? Commenting on the issues facing school meal providers, Sandra Russell, LACA National Chair said: "It is imperative that all caterers look at ways to sustain school meal quality and affordability for parents whilst meeting Local Authority obligations to reduce expenditure and make savings in public services. "We face tough challenges at the frontline of school meal provision but the first priority, for all of us, must be to maintain our focus on safeguarding the future health and wellbeing of our children and young people. "LACA is, therefore, also looking to the Government to ensure it provides sufficient support for Head Teachers so that they do not find themselves facing an educational versus health lottery when it comes to deciding where school budgets should be spent. LACA's aim is to see that the School Lunch Grant reaches the providers of the school catering service for t