Council defends its school meal change

CONTRACT MAY LEAVE PUPILS TO GO HUNGRY, SAYS GMB

A COUNCIL boss has said ‘no pupil will be without a meal’ amid union criticism over plans to scrap school meal contracts.

North Tyneside Council has come under fire from the trade union GMB as it claims new school meal contracts from private firms may refuse to feed kids from Year 3 onwards if they have insufficient credit on school accounts like ‘Parent Pay’.

According to GMB, sources within schools which are using a private consultancy firm to procure new deals are being exposed to “harsher” terms such as refusing meals.

Stuart Gilhespy, GMB organiser, said: “Leaving kids hungry if their parents get behind on their payments is disgraceful – it goes against everything a public service should be. It’s exactly the reason school catering should remain in public, rather than private hands.

“What are councillors thinking? This decision will waste taxpayer money, hurt workers and potentially leave kids hungry.”

While North Tyneside Council said it would be up to individual schools on how they manage their meal debt policy, bosses have stressed that “no pupil will be without a meal”.

At the time of the council’s announcement, the catering service was generating a £3m annual shortfall and the number of schools taking up the service also dropped from 49 in April 2023, to 41 now.

Following the announcement the council would no longer provide school meals it offered to help schools negotiate their new pending contacts, 15 of which took up the offer.

The remaining schools opted to use a private consultancy firm.

Jon Ritchie, director of resources at North Tyneside Council, said: “The council is having to make extremely difficult decisions relating to its budgets this year and looking at changes to services across the authority. Schools have the freedom to choose who provides their meals, and as more and more schools have chosen new providers, there is now a significant financial impact on our service, and it is no longer sustainable.

“All current staff working in school kitchens will be transferred to a new provider, in line with...regulations, with the same pay and terms and conditions, and there will be minimal impact on schools and school communities. No pupil will be without a meal.

“We offered support to all schools to find a new provider and to support a smooth transition to the new service, and many schools in the borough have already swapped providers successfully.

“It will be up to the school and new provider to define their debt policy.”

GMB Union will stage a protest outside the full North Tyneside Council meeting on Thursday.