‘Lessons learnt’ after 1p school meals debt row
‘NOT A SINGLE CHILD WILL BE REFUSED FOOD’
“LESSONS have been learnt” by a school meals fiasco in which a headteacher wrote to parents threatening to deny dinners to pupils more than 1p in debt.
A high profile row erupted last month after the warning from Neil Foden, head of Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes.
But in light of unprecedented media attention, Mr Foden claimed the authority had “thrown him under the bus” after stressing that his letter was based on Gwynedd Council’s own advice.
Stating in the letter that “a handful of pupils had run up debts totalling more than £1,800,” he said the school cook had been instructed not to give food to any child “if their debt has not been cleared, or, in the future, to children whose accounts do not have enough money to pay for lunch”
He wrote: “I am sorry that we have had to take these steps but the scale of the default means that something clearly has to be done.”
The news sparked a huge backlash with intervention coming from the likes of Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, forcing Gwynedd Council to release a subsequent statement apologising for “the worry and concern” caused by the letter’s wording.
The authority went on to admit that the advice provided by the education department “created a lack of clarity” and would review its guidance to schools as a result.
But while welcoming Welsh Government plans to introduce free school meals at primary level, a recent meeting of the authority’s Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee also heard more on the fall-out of the row.
The education portfolio holder, Cllr Cemlyn Williams, told the committee: “I want to offer assurance that not a single pupil in the county will be refused a meal, whatever the circumstances. “Despite that we must acknowledge that school meal debt is a problem across the county.” Adding he’d been led by Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle governors, who urged the authority to review its process after calling the online payment system “inefficient,” he confirmed they would be doing so.
There had also been complaints that no automated messages were sent to parents informing them of their debts, it was not possible to top up the account with cash and there was a minimum bank transfer payment of £10.
But Cllr Alwyn Gruffydd said the report was bare on detail regarding the particular school’s situation, adding: “One worries about the concern the whole process has caused for parents, pupils and staff.
“Allegations have been made by a headteacher that the authority has used him as a scapegoat.
“Imagine that, a headteacher has accused the education department of such a thing. There are serious questions that need answering here.”
In response, Cllr Williams stressed that the authority had apologised in a statement.
“We have apologised for what’s happened and the way it happened, but we have also taken note of the wise words of the chair of governors.
“(The situation) has caused a lot of unnecessary pain and we certainly want to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen again.”
Garem Jackson, the Head of Education, added: “Our main focus now is to ensure we’re in the best possible situation going forward.
“Of course, like any process and event, we learn lessons in moving forward and we have done.
“We communicated immediately with all of our schools to remind them that not a single child goes unfed in Gwynedd’s schools .... we’ve held an open and mature discussion with all of our headteachers on the matter and have received positive responses and they’ve bought in without exception.”