Brent council in move to offload school catering

Brent local education authority has opted out of a borough-wide catering contract in its primary schools after the tendering process broke down.

The north London council follows Essex, as a trend for large councils to stop arranging catering services for schools gathers pace, leaving head teachers to find a suitable caterer.

A leading consultant said that group contracts run by big multinational catering companies were becoming harder to broker. Julian Edwards, director of Tenet Education Services, said it was the end of an era for the traditional contract.

Edwards is overseeing Brent council's school meals service after it decided to devolve responsibility for meals to 60 primary schools. The group contract was run by Scolarest for six years and was up for renewal this summer.

Harrison, Sodexho, Scolarest and facilities management company OCS all pulled out because the poor condition of school kitchens made it too risky. Sygnet offered a cook-chill delivery service or packed lunch service, which the council rejected.

Colin Garnham-Edge, Sodexho's operations director for local authority group contracts, criticised the move. "Essex and Brent's decision is wrong. Councils have got to stop putting out these farcical contracts. The current cost of a school meal in Brent is £1.65. Given that the kitchens are in an abysmal condition; meal numbers are relatively low; staff recruitment and training is poor - there would have been a substantial increase in the cost."

He added that councils needed to be far more realistic about the costs of running local authority contracts and should increase their catering budgets.

Edwards remained confident of Brent's future. He said: "All 60 schools will be up and running in September with a new and improved service."