Free school meals funding ‘not enough’ – caterer

A 5p increase in government funding for schools to provide free meals is “not enough” amid rising food prices, a catering director has said.

The Department for Education (DfE) has increased funding for pupils eligible for free school dinners to £2.58 per meal.

But Adam Curtis, of Dolce School Catering in Manchester, said it costs more than that to provide meals, meaning school chefs will have to subsidize the rest or alter the offering.

“Every caterer has to take some money from the food plate,” he said.

He added, “The latest free school meals increase means probably around 15/20p will have to be removed from a child’s meal plate.”

Government confirmed Rate will be increased by 5p For 2024 to 2025, earlier date for the start of the academic year.

Colleges, independent learning providers and sixth forms can fund free meals for disadvantaged students aged 16 to 18.

Infants in England are guaranteed free school meals, but children in Year 3 and above must be in households with universal credit earning less than £7,400 a year to qualify.

This limit has not changed since 2018, meaning 1 in 100,000 (one in four) schoolchildren living in poverty across the North West cannot claim a free meal. a report.

Mr Curtis said even a “small increase” in funding for free meals could affect some schools more than others.

“In catering it’s all about scale, so in a small rural school it might cost us £4 a meal to cater for 50 pupils, but in a larger school we could do it for £2.15/£2.20 900 enrolled in London,” he said.

“It is very likely that small, rural schools will have to increase the cost of meals significantly more than they already have.

“A lot of smaller schools are paying £3.50 or £4, and it can still be more than that.

“You can’t set the same price for meals for all schools”.

A DfE representative said funding is constantly being reviewed and action has been taken to address the challenges experienced by struggling families.

“Next year we are tripling our investment in breakfast clubs to more than £30 million, with the delivery of free meals and childcare starting in 750 schools from the start of April 2025,” he said.

He said the government would continue funding free lunch for more than three million pupils.