Today (Friday 29th November), an open letter written by LACA (The School Food People) along with other leading school meal organisations, is being sent to Prime Minister Keir Starmer asking him to address the challenges facing the school food industry in the UK, particularly in England.
LACA represents the school food industry and is advocating for nutritious and accessible meals for all children in the UK. With over 300 local authorities, county, district councils and London Boroughs represented in the membership, 80% of the school catering service in the UK is provided by LACA members.
In the open letter LACA has said the quality and sustainability of the school food services is now under threat as the rising cost of ingredients, coupled with ongoing inflation, has made it increasingly difficult to maintain the standards of the school meals served to children.
LACA also explains that the recently announced increase in employer National Insurance contributions only exacerbates the struggle.
The letter, which has received more than 500 organisational signatories, is urging the Government to align funding with true costs of provision year-on-year to safeguard the health of children and to support their educational journeys. The letter states: “This is not just a financial issue; it is a matter of public health and social equity.”
LACA also says plans to introduce the provision of breakfast in schools in England will prove difficult if they are to meet the specific nutritional criteria of the School Food Standards (SFS). To ensure that they do will require proper financial support, and whether or not this will be provided is still not known.
As the ongoing cost of living crisis is leaving many families reliant on school meals as a vital source of nutrition for their children, the organisation says that without an increase up to at least £3 per lunchtime meal there will be the reality of a decline in nutritional standards and inadequate service provision.
The recently published Cost of a School Lunch Report indicated that the cost of a primary school lunch is £3.16.
The letter has been written by chair of LACA Judith Gregory and is supported by:
- Michael Hales, vice chair of LACA,
- Bryan Lygate, managing director of Impact Food Group
- John Want, chief executive of Hertfordshire Catering Limited
- Andrew Selley, chief executive of Bidcorp UK
- Gavin Squires, business development controller at Bidfood
Lygate commented: “As an organisation with several years’ experience in managing uncertainty and rising cost pressures, we support LACA’s appeal to Government to consider the challenges facing our industry.
“Our commitment to the schools we partner with, and our young customers, is to always offer nutritious, delicious and affordable meals. The Free School Meals (FSM) and Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) schemes have been vital in enabling us to do this, but they no longer align to new and increasing cost pressures schools and caterers face.
“We hope the Government will consider LACA’s call to action and increase funding to reflect the true costs of providing school food. Better support and investment in this area will ensure caterers can offer high quality, sustainable food services which contribute to better child health and educational outcomes.”
Read the full letter below. To sign the letter, visit: www.laca.co.uk/laca-letter-government.