Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) agrees that the price of school meals is increased to £2.00 per meal from April 2009 to reflect the continued improved food and nutritional content of the meal and the cost pressures on the catering services.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) have introduced a School Lunch grant from April 2008.

2.2. There are continuing pressures on catering budgets which have been assessed and considered in detail.

2.3. Comparable school meal prices have been considered.

3) Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

3.1. School meals price is increased by 10p to £2.00 per meal from April 2009.

MAIN REPORT

1) Contextual Information:

1.1. Each year the Executive Member is asked to review the price of school meals and consider if an increase should be applied. In previous years the price has increased by 10p where inflationary pressures have justified this change.

1.2. A School Meals Strategy was developed and implemented during 2005-2008. Since April 2008 the targeted School Meals grant has been replaced by a School Lunch Grant. This grant can only be used to cover any direct costs of a school meal.

1.3. A proposal to allocate the School Lunch Grant by formula to catering providers based on the number of free school meals provided plus 25% of the schools number on roll was agreed by Schools Forum when it met on 11 December 2007. The School Lunch Grant for 2008/09 was £1,771,767.

2) Key Issues:

2.1. Food costs have increased very significantly over the last year, most of which have been absorbed. Although more recently they have started to fall, advice from suppliers is that food prices will increase by 10% next year. Wherever possible HC3S make use of local suppliers to source meal ingredients and are supporting the local business economy.

2.2. The school meals service has had to absorb the impacts of pay and benefits, which when combined with this year's pay award, will see the pay bill increase by 6%, higher than anticipated.

2.3. Comparisons have been made with other shire counties and the proposed increase would place Hampshire in line with other similar authorities for the price of a school meal.

2.4. Cambridgeshire increased by 10p in September 2008 to £1.90 Primary and £2.05 Secondary, Derbyshire applied the same increase and charge £1.80 and £2.05 for primary and secondary respectively and Oxfordshire moved up 10p again in September to £1.95. Both Nottinghamshire and Lancashire applied a 5p increase to charge £1.90 for all Nottinghamshire schools and £1.75 (primary) and £2.10 (secondary) in Lancashire. The price paid by school children in West Sussex in £2.00.

2.5. Hampshire applies it's annual price increase from April each year and the above comparative data suggests an increase of 10p would be close to the norm. The increase would mean a rise of 5.3%. In recommending this increase it is recognised that there are potential impacts on the number of meals provided and the level of free meals taken up during a period of economic downturn in the country.

2.6. Following the introduction of new nutritional standards national surveys have highlighted a decline in the number of meals served in schools. In contrast, In Hampshire, the county's catering organisation, HC3S continues to see a steady increase in the number of meals served. Although this recent trend is very welcome it means that school meal numbers are still significantly lower than the levels achieved in previous years.

2.7. Initial discussion with some schools has highlighted that local administration with collection of dinner money would be easier if an increase of 10p could be applied as opposed to a 5p increase. Moving the meal price to £2.00 a day or £10 for a five day week would reduce the need for a lot of local cash handling.

3) Outline of Options:

3.1. Option 1:

a) To increase the price of a school meal by 5p to £1.95 per meal.

3.2. Option 2:

a) To increase the price of a school meal by 10p to £2.00 per meal.

3.3. Option 3:

a) No increase in the price of a school meal.

4) Option Analysis / Comparison:

4.1. The need for an increase to cover inflationary pressures and maintain the nutritional content justifies an increase of 10p per meal in line with previous years.

4.2. Schools as collectors of school meals money would prefer a rounded sum to ease administration process in the school office.

4.3. Comparison with other shire counties would suggest that the proposed increase would place Hampshire in a similar price banding as others.

5) Conclusions:

5.1. A price increase to take effect from April 2009 to charge £2.00 per meal is proposed based on the evidence presented.

6) Recommendations:

Please see Executive Summary for recommendations.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

1. Equalities Impact Assessment:

a) No impact.

2. Impact on Crime and Disorder:

a) No impact.

3. Climate Change:

a) How does what is being proposed impact on our carbon footprint / energy consumption?

· No impact

b) How does what is being proposed consider the need to adapt to climate change, and be resilient to its longer term impacts?

· No impact