NE schools step into gap left by chancellor
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has refused to respond to calls from Feed the Future’s recent campaign to extend eligibility for Free School Meals, in yesterday’s Autumn Budget Statement.
Feed the Future
In early November, the campaign Feed the Future (by The Food Foundation) released a report presenting data and evidence to demonstrate to policy makers that they needed to extend Free School Meals (FSM) and invest to protect children who are disadvantaged but not currently qualifying for free meals.
The Food Foundation reported that ‘an estimated 800,000 children who are living in poverty are not currently receiving FSM’. Research in 2020/21 found that 23% of children not receiving FSM were food insecure. Children in poverty missing out on FSM in the North East was reported at 27%.
The campaign’s calls were to extend eligibility to all children in households on Universal Credit as an effective way to support families struggling with a huge rise in the cost of living. The Food Foundation saw support from public figures such as Marcus Rashford, Jamie Oliver and Micheal Gove as well as a coalition of charities, organisations and Chefs in Schools representing over 500,000 teachers.
Last month leading voices in education wrote a letter supporting the Feed the Future’s call to expand FSM. The letter was signed by:
- Geoff Barton, General Secretary, Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)
- Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries, National Education Union (NEU)
- Dr Nicholas Capstick, Principal of Drove Primary School, and CEO of White Horse Federation Trust and
- Chair, School Food Review Working Group
- Leora Cruddas, CEO, Confederation of School Trusts (CST)
- Russell Hobby, CEO, Teach First
- Emma Knight, CEO, National Governance Association (NGA)
- Christina McAnea, General Secretary, UNISON
- Stephen Morales, CEO, Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL)
- Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary, NASUWT
- Steve Taylor, Chair, Queen Street Group and CEO, Cabot Learning Federation
- Paul Whiteman, General Secretary, National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT)
Impact on school catering
St Aidan’s Catholic Academy in Sunderland is part of the Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust. In a recent BBC Radio 4 interview, Head Teacher of St Aidan’s Glenn Sanderson spoke about the effects the cost of living crisis had on catering within the schools and FSM. Glenn told the BBC that at St Aidan’s they run a food bank to further support families.
The Food Foundation responded to Glenn’s interview, that he:
“states the clear truth that equal access to education is only possible with equal access to food. Every child counts, Every meal matters”
Karen Evans, Catering Manager at Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust said:
“The current increases in the cost of food and energy are impacting school budgets across the country. We are now paying more for the produce, particularly proteins, fish, beef, chicken, everything that is required for healthy growth and repair to make healthy well-proportioned meals, in addition the kitchen is the most energy intensive area of the school.
At our Trust we have frozen the price of our school meals, we have not compromised on quality or portions, the Trust has absorbed these costs so they are not passed on to parents. We use fresh ingredients and the majority of our menus are homemade by our chefs in our kitchens. We have considered the use of kitchen equipment when designing our menu’s to maximise efficiency. We have also made the commitment to reduce this impact through developing advanced ordering systems, bulk buying, using that power that we have as a group of schools. And importantly, beginning to develop sustainable kitchens where we grow our own produce to mitigate the impact of rising food costs.”
Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East added:
“We are disappointed to learn that Jeremy Hunt’s budget did not address the calls for Free School Meals to be extended, despite the research underpinning the Feed the Future campaign. We hope to see this change soon and in the meantime we applaud schools like St. Aidans for trying to support their community in every possible way. Similar to in the pandemic, once again we are seeing schools become the ‘fourth emergency service’.”
The Food Foundation’s Feed the Future campaign is still urging people to reach out to their local MP. Read their research here:
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