Free school dinner pilot boosts uptake in County Durham to 86%

05 January 2010 by
Free school dinner pilot boosts uptake in County Durham to 86%

School meal uptake in County Durham has reached 86% since the start of the Government's £40m trial to provide free school lunches in two UK regions.

The pilot scheme, launched in September, sees free school meals made available to primary school children in Durham and Newham in London.

Taylor Shaw, the main caterer on the scheme in Durham, said that participation has grown to an average of 86% across the 209 primary schools it serves in just one term.

If the trial is successful it could be implemented nationwide at a cost of £1b a year to the Government.

However, the School Food Trust (SFT) has said that school meal uptake could also be increased if sold at the right price, following research by London Economics. The SFT is urging more local authorities and schools to mimic the high street by using special offers to tempt customers.

Judy Hargadon, chief executive of the SFT said: "We know that caterers are already working hard to keep costs down, but we can't ignore what our customers are telling us about the price they're prepared to pay."

Caterersearch school dinner round-up >>

School Food Trust launches £1 school dinner campaign in North Somerset >>

School Food Trust welcomes plans to extend free school dinners >>

Scotland will struggle with free school meals commitment >>

Round table: The fight to save school meals >> By Janie Stamford

E-mail your comments to Janie Stamford here.

If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk

Caterersearch.com jobs
Looking for a new job? Find your next job here with Caterersearch.com jobs

Blogs on Caterersearch.com](http://www.caterersearch.com/blogs) Catch up with more news and gossip on all Caterer's blogs
[Newsletters For the latest hospitality news, sign up for our e-mail newsletters.
The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking