Council cuts school meals spending

5.39.03pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 23rd Nov 2005

At today's meeting of Manchester City Council's Executive Committee, it was revealed that the Council have cut half-a-million pounds from their School Meals spending, due to a budget deficit in the School Meals section.

The Council are blaming the spending cuts on recent bad publicity on school meals and a drop in the number of meals provided. The cuts will mean less choice of fresh fruit & vegetables being served to Manchester's children.

Earlier this year, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver attracted rave reviews for his TV programme "Jamie's School Meals" which highlighted the poor standard of much of the food eaten by the nation's children.

But Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Shannon has warned Council officials not to cut too many corners in an effort to balance their books.

Councillor Shannon said:

"These cuts go too far. The amount spent on food for each school meal in Manchester is only around 42p as it is, yet Manchester Fayre Head Office are now under budget pressure! Other areas are improving their School Meals, but Manchester's are getting worse, which is not going to encourage local families to take up the school-meals option."

Cllr Shannon, who is Chair of a Primary School Governing Body, added,

"Now the publicity has died down, it seems that the Council are making cutbacks on school meals. This is wrong, as many Manchester children who live in deprived households need all the fresh fruit & vegetables they can get."

He concluded,

"Lazy Labour bosses are blaming Jamie Oliver for service cuts. They'd be better advised to keep their promise to provide healthy school meals for pupils in Manchester."