Government to leave budget decisions to head teachers

The Government seems unlikely to act on the findings of the latest Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) School Meals Survey.

The report, published last month, claimed that school caterers had made savings of more than £1b in the past decade, but that these savings had been ploughed back into education services rather than into catering.

However, a spokesperson from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) said: "Schools given the funding and responsibility for school meals should provide free meals and paid meals that meet nutritional standards.

"It is for each school to decide on the exact level of expenditure needed to secure this, taking account of the funding given to them and the ways in which charging can influence nutritional choice.

"It is right and proper that such decisions about the day-to-day running of schools are made by head teachers and school governors, as they know the most about their pupils, school and the community."

But this was not what LACA chairman Vivianne Buller hoped to hear. "We want Government to ringfence money," she said. "Schools are choosing equipment versus catering. We understand this, but feel we are caught in the middle of schools and Government."