Vote on where school meals should be made
The question of where to make and distribute school meals from next year could cause further rifts at Perth and Kinross Council, according to one councillor.
A paper voted on tomorrow will offer options for where to locate the proposed central production unit (CPU) for school meals, but leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Cllr Peter Barrett claims the issue will fracture the divided council administration further.
On January 30, lifelong learning committee members agreed from August 2020 Tayside Contracts should get school meals made, frozen and distributed from a central kitchen site and distributed once a week to schools to make for a more “efficient” catering service.
Opposition to this decision and the jobs losses that centralisation would cause has resulted in several options being drawn up - a kitchen hub in Dundee, a new site in Perth, leave things as they are - and these will be voted on Wednesday, September 25.
Lib Dem leader at Perth and Kinross Council, Cllr Peter Barrett, said: “It seems more likely that the faltering Conservative-only minority administration will fall at its very first real hurdle.
“Even if the Conservative group support the recommended option, for a Dundee-based central processing unit, they will be outvoted by SNP, independent, Labour and Conservative rebel councillors.
“The Tories are going to have to implement a meals service they don’t believe in.
“There are massive and unnecessary price tags of between £2 million and £4m associated with options two, three and four as well as delays in providing the meals required through the expansion of early years and childcare.
“The SNP have dug themselves into such a hole there is no way out for them.
“The SNP are going to have to justify why they want to spend £4m to build a new CPU for a meals service which is going to cost £426,000 more to run every single year.
“I doubt we’ll get any answers or any detail on Wednesday.”
Highland Ward Councillor Xander McDade, an independent who strongly opposed the CPU at January’s lifelong learning committee, also predicted trouble tomorrow.
Cllr McDade said: “It is the wish of every parent when their child goes to school in the morning that they are provided with a fresh, healthy meal.
“This is just further evidence of this administration trying to centralise more services in Dundee rather than supporting our rural communities in Perth and Kinross.”
Commenting further, Cllr McDade said: “Due to the expansion of early learning and childcare to 1140 hours, we will soon have more children who will be entitled to free school meals.
“This will create efficiency savings without any centralisation.”