Childcare places under threat if meals plan fails

New regional industrial kitchen crucial to meeting demand

Councillors have been warned not to further dilute plans for a shared school meals centre for Tayside.

New Tayside Contracts kitchens were designed to cater for pupils across Dundee, Angus and Perth and Kinross but the latter local authority has already pulled out.

Officials in Angus have now warned the county’s existing kitchens may not be able to deal with the increase in demand for meals when extra funded nursery places are introduced next year.

They say Dundee’s new regional industrial kitchen, placed at risk by Perth and Kinross Council’s withdrawal, is crucial to meeting extra demand.

The facility will result in “a net increase of 38 Tayside Contracts posts”, cooking and freezing food for distribution to Tayside’s schools.

Perth and Kinross councillors voted against involvement last month.

Angus councillors will decide whether to remain involved in the project at a meeting tomorrow.

Extra free childcare hours for families are at risk due to issues surrounding a new regional school kitchen in Dundee.

Angus council officials have warned they could be unable “to deliver (on a) commitment to the expansion of early learning and childcare” if plans for the shared facility do not progress.

The shared kitchen plans were disrupted last month when Perth and Kinross councillors voted to withdraw from the scheme after a campaign highlighting job losses and concerns over the quality of the frozen food to be prepared in the new kitchen.

The Scottish Government and local authorities have committed to almost doubling the funded entitlement to early learning and childcare (ELC) from 600 to 1,140 hours from August 2020 for all three- and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds

Mark Armstrong, Angus Council deputy chief executive, prepared a paper on the Tayside Meals Centre proposal for councillors to consider tomorrow.

It states “there would be a significant risk that the council will not be able to deliver on its commitment to the expansion of ELC in August 2020” without the new Dundee-based kitchen.

The paper said the additional demand for school meals created by the national ELC commitment created “practical challenges… through existing kitchen facilities”.

The paper went on: “If members were not minded to support the proposals in this report urgent action would be needed to determine just how Angus Council would meet the required increase in meal provision in circa 10 months’ time.”

Perth and Kinross Council’s decision to withdraw from the plan has also cost Angus Council £31,000 in anticipated annual savings, according to the paper.

The project is still predicted to save the local authority more than £100,000 per year with no change to the upfront costs.

Dundee City Council has said it is still committed to the shared kitchen.

“No workforce implications for Angus Council related to this report. MARK ARMSTRONG

Tayside Contracts plans to cook school meals at its Tay Cuisine industrial kitchen in Dundee before freezing the food.

The meals will then be shipped out to distribution hubs across the region before being delivered to schools.

Perth and Kinross councillors voted against the plan after concerns about jobs losses in rural parts of Perthshire.

Mr Armstrong moved to allay Angus councillors’ concerns in the report, claiming “no workforce implications for Angus Council related to this report”.

He said there would be “a net increase of 38 Tayside Contracts posts”.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We have been assured by Angus Council that the expansion of early learning and childcare in Angus will not be held back by the production of meals. The council is continuing to put in place staff, facilities, and systems to ensure that all eligible children have access to 1,140 hours of high quality ELC.”