Parents might have to pay for healthier food

Parents, schools and local authorities will have to stump up more cash to improve school meals if the Government's £220m runs out, according to the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

Stephen Crowne, director of resources at the DfES, told delegates at the Healthier School Meals conference in London last week that there was no more money forthcoming.

"We carved out the money from the education budget at some pain. If we got to the end of the three-year funding plan and still needed more, it would be a disaster."

Crowne said the Government funding was a transitional arrangement and believed more money could be squeezed from other parts of the system. He hinted that local authorities might have to juggle their priorities to find extra cash to implement the new standards.

"They are political bodies and respond to public pressure," he said.

He added that 75% of parents were prepared to "pay a bit more" for fresh food, although he would not specify sums.

Soil Association policy director Peter Melchett agreed that local authorities could find some extra cash, as they had removed £154m a year from the school meals service for the past 10 years.

But food service consultant Vic Laws questioned where any extra cash would come from to meet the Government's new school meal standards. "What's the point of appointing a commission to make recommendations and then not fund them? Will schools have to cut back on books, teachers and computers?"

Laws said that local authorities were already under pressure to fund dearer free school meals. "As a minimum we'd expect the Government to pay for that," he said. "With healthier kids and less pressure on the NHS, it's the Government that will benefit in the long run."

By Tom Bill

Get your copy of Caterer and Hotelkeeper every week - click here to subscribe and save 25%.