Cost of school dinners to rise

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/7487044.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Several Welsh councils will be charging pupils more for school dinners from the start of the next school year, with the rising food and fuel costs blamed.

Two of the councils, Caerphilly and Powys, said it will be the second increase parents will face this year.

Of the 22 education authorities contacted by BBC Radio's Good Morning Wales, 17 responded and seven said their prices were going up.

The Welsh Local Government Association said councils could not absorb costs.

Parents in Powys and Caerphilly are facing their second rise in school dinner prices since April, adding up to an extra £1 a week per child.

The others putting up prices are Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Flintshire, Torfaen and Merthyr.

In Powys, parents were paying £1.70 before April. This increased to £1.80 after April and will be £1.90 from September.

In Caerphilly, the cost was £1.60 before April, and £1.65 after that, which will be revised to £1.75 from September.

The only way we could reduce costs would be to reduce the quality and quantity of the produce and we won't be doing that Ian Colburn, Torfaen council

Mother-of-six Myfanwy Alexander, who lives in Powys, said that when food costs went down families had never seen school meal prices go down.

"I personally think that if the local authorities managed things a little better they would not need to pass on these increases so quickly," she said.

All seven councils which said they were raising prices explicitly said it was a result of rising food and fuel costs.

Six said they would not be increasing their costs, although four said they had already increased costs either in January or April.

Four councils said they were yet to make a decision.

Steve Thomas, chief executive of the Welsh Local Government Association, said councils were dealing with a "double whammy" of costs relating to school dinners. On the one hand there were rising food and fuel costs and also the improved nutritional content of school meals came at a cost.

They were also trying to absorb rising electricity and gas costs within schools, he said.

The school food service really is part of the health service in disguise Prof Kevin Morgan, Cardiff University

"One council is quoting a potential rise from the current level of £935,000 this year to something like £2.5m within an 18-month period," he said.

"The cost has got to be met from somewhere and while some costs are being passed on in terms of school meals, I think they offer huge value for money in terms of the content of the meal and the value of the meal."

Ian Colburn, who is chief officer of operational services for Torfaen council - one of the councils putting up their school meal prices, said it had tried to keep the increases to a minimum.

"The only way we could reduce costs would be to reduce the quality and quantity of the produce and we won't be doing that," he said.

"The other option would be for the authority to bear the cost but in the back drop of the settlement from the Welsh Assembly Government of 2.2% and 1.7% for the coming year, the council almost has little choice but to apply the increase."

Prof Kevin Morgan from Cardiff University, who has published a book on school food reform, said there was a fundamental problem with the way school catering services were viewed.

"The school food service really is part of the health service in disguise and we need to start thinking of it in terms of health and wellbeing," he said.

"The school catering services themselves have a very valid point when they say that they have been treated as a commercial service but they are expected to deliver welfare and health benefits."