Croydon Council not to re-tender school meals contract

The Local Authority Caterers' Association (LACA) has expressed its concern about the move. LACA chair Beverley Baker says: "We appreciate that Croydon Council would not have come to this decision without considerable deliberation, but we're concerned about the level of fragmentation and dilution any school meals service might potentially face if this type of direction is taken." Through its Food in Schools unit headed by catering contract manager Allyson Lloyd, the council currently negotiates school meal provision on behalf of 78 primary schools, 11 special schools or referral units plus six secondary schools. The majority of these are serviced by Eden Foodservice, the specialist school catering division of Rentokil Initial. A Croydon Council spokesman said: "Following the new government policy of allowing schools to take responsibility for their own commissioning decisions to meet local needs, Croydon Council has considered a number of options for the ongoing delivery of school meals and will not be re-tendering for the central school meals catering contract. "The current contract will cease on the 8th of April 2011 (the end of the spring term). The decision not to re-tender the contract means that all schools will be responsible for providing a catering service within the school. "Research in other local authorities that have taken the decision to support schools in commissioning their own catering service has shown positive results in terms of the engagement and take-up of school meals. "There are a number of options available to schools regarding the delivery of a school meals service. Our Food in Schools team is planning to hold a series of road shows at the start of the autumn term to inform schools further about these options. "The aim of the road shows will be to provide targeted information for all types of schools. "The current caterers are also being informed of this decision at this time. The council will be working closely with them to ensure a smooth change over at the end of the contract. "The Food in Schools team will be providing a tailored programme of support to assist schools during the transition period." LACA's Beverley Baker adds: "While larger schools with higher roll numbers and a well-established healthy eating policy and operational framework in place, might be more equipped to sustain a school meals service, smaller schools may well struggle. "A centrally-managed school meals service provides the benefit of economies of scale which may well be lost and it will be the smaller schools that will suffer the most. "Without the opportunity of sharing costs and arrangements such as procurement of ingredients, running an effective and affordable school meals service for parents may not be, for some, a viable operation." On July 20th Dave Hill, the officer who led major improvements in children's services in Croydon, announced he was leaving his post as executive director of children, young people and learners for a similar but bigger role in the county of Essex. A Croydon Council spokesman said he had been in his post for just under two years, during which there have been significant improvements in school exam results, reductions in pupil absenteeism and the introduction of a programme to reform children's social care provision.