Savings on school catering shore up education budgets
School caterers have made savings of more than £1b in the past decade, but the money has been ploughed back into education services rather than catering, according to a new survey.
The latest School Meals Survey conducted by the Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) estimated that £154m had been saved from catering budgets every year for the past 10 years.
Vivianne Buller, chair of LACA, said this was due to pressure from the compulsory competitive tendering process introduced in 1994, better marketing, improved meal uptake by pupils and tighter cost control.
She said that some of these savings had been necessary to make the service more efficient, but the money could have been redirected to the catering service to maintain staff levels, increase food budgets or modernise kitchens. This would have allowed cooks to concentrate on food production rather than buying in ready-made solutions, but the money had been siphoned off by local education authorities to bolster their education services.
The money saved amounted to an extra 25p that could have been spent on the cost of food per pupil. She added that it was time for school caterers to stand up for themselves - they had been unfairly pilloried for the state of school meals.
"With criticism about quality so often laid at the door of school caterers, it is ironic that one solution to creating additional funding for this country's school meals service lies within the framework of its own budgeting system.
"We would love to have 70-80p to spend on the food for meals, be able to retain staff and go back to traditional cooking - but ‘you pays your money, and you takes your choice'."
However, Buller said, there was some good news: the number of meals bought by parents had gone up since 1996, contrary to public belief. "Parents are prepared to pay an economic price for meals and, despite everything, they clearly value the service."
Out of 8.1 million pupils in England and Wales, 45% used school meals; but while the number of meals served in primary schools had risen by 18% since 1996, they had fallen in secondary schools by 8%.
She said that the survey also showed that school meals made a growing rather than diminishing contribution to a child's daily diet, which was no longer just about lunch, but would increasingly include breakfast and supper clubs.
CAPTION: More than £1b has been saved from school catering budgets over 10 years
BOXHEAD: school meal suppliers
TABLE: Primary Secondary
England Wales England Wales
Council direct service organisations 69% 97% 60% 95%
Large private contractors 22% - 24% -
Small private contractors 9% - 11% -
Self-operated - - 5% -
