Council could close school catering service

Cheshire East Council has been subsidising its school catering service

A council is looking at closing its catering service, meaning schools relying on it would have to make their own meal arrangements.

Cheshire East Council's service, called Fresh, currently provides lunches and snacks to 87 schools, and employs about 270 people.

It used to operate at a profit, but over recent years there has been a shortfall between income and expenditure, so the local authority has been subsidising it.

Councillors are being presented with five options for the service, with officers recommending it should cease by the end of December 2024.

Schools across the borough have different catering arrangements in place: some use the council's service, while others provide their own school lunches or use another third party provider.

The price the council charges schools for meals it provides increased in January to £2.53 for a free school meal. Paid meals increased by 15%

But it is concerned the increased charge will not support the catering service's long-term viability.

It estimates if it is to continue running the service without subsidising it, it would need to charge an average of £3.15 per meal from April.

This means that if free school meals were charged at the existing rate of funding provided by the government of £2.53, then paid meals would need to rise to more than £4 per child.

Because of the impact this would have on school budgets, the council expects schools would pass on some, or all, of that increase to parents.

If families then chose not to pay for a school meal, it would further impact the council's budget.

"Given the financial position of the council, the catering service needs to be self-financing or cost-neutral,” a report to its children and families committee states.

Five options

Councillors will be asked to consider five options including closing the catering service, retaining it but ensuring it is self-funded or out-sourcing it.

Officers are recommending the committee approve the option to cease the service by the end of December if possible, following discussions with schools.

The children and families committee is set to meet on 12 February.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.