CASH to balance the books on bringing in free school meals for all primary school pupils has been secured.

Despite a £1.5m contribution from the Government, county schools were still struggling to meet the costs of catering for the increase in numbers of schoolchildren getting a free lunch.

Oxfordshire County Council had to spend an extra £480,000 on ensuring 123 of the county’s 232 primary schools had their catering facilities upgraded to cope with demand.

Extra cash has now been been secured from a pot of surplus money, the catering investment fund, after a county council cabinet meeting this week.

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County councillor Melinda Tilley, the cabinet member for education, said she was angry at having to spend this money on what she called a “mad” policy.

She said: “An awful lot of parents I talk to say they didn’t need it and they still don’t need it.

“There are also people who are eligible for free school meals who are now not applying for them and that means they don’t get the pupil premium [which helps determine school funding]. It is utter madness.”

It is now required that all state-funded schools offer a hot meal each day to every child from reception to year two.

The policy, which came into effect on September 2, is designed to ensure that primary school children up to the age of seven receive adequate nutrition at school.

The council spent the money introducing the controversial policy in time for the new academic year in September.

But in June the county council, the education authority, said that 123 of the county’s 232 primary schools required “some form of equipment or upgrade to kitchen facilities” to meet the requirement. And children whose parents receive income support or income-based jobseekers allowance must still apply for free school meals even though they receive them anyway.

Lib Dem county councillor John Howson, whose party pushed through the policy, said: “I think the policy will be worth the extra expenditure in the long term.

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  • John Howson

“All three parties seem to be promoting something similar, with Labour backing breakfast clubs and the Tories backing after-school dinners.

“We are backing lunches because it means the afternoon learning session will be much better.

“There have been a lot of problems with children who have insufficient lunches.”

The Government gave the county council about £1.5m to spend on improving kitchens, but this wasn’t enough after the authority spent around £2m.

In 2012 the county council signed a contract with Carillion to deliver school meals, which replaced the previous Food with Thought provider.

County council spokesman Paul Smith said: “The catering investment fund is the historical trading account surplus from Food with Thought, accumulated prior to the service being delivered via the Carillion contract.”

The Oxford Mail approached both Mrs Tilley and county council leader Ian Hudspeth but neither had heard of the catering investment fund.

 

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