COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Bosses at Coventry City Council want to close the school catering service because it isn’t breaking even.



They say the 52 schools in the city which get school lunches from the service should either use a private company, use Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council’s school meals service or employ the catering staff themselves.

More than half of the city’s schools already either use a private catering company or employ the staff and order the food themselves.

Using Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is likely to be an option for schools if the plans to close Coventry City Council’s school catering service go ahead.

Coventry City Council’s schools catering service is expected to lose £571,000 in this financial year. Council bosses don’t want to carry on operating at a loss.

If the plans go ahead it’s not clear whether jobs will be lost or if existing council catering staff will find themselves carrying on with the job but for a different employer.

Coun David Kershaw (Lab, Bablake) Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for education, said: “We consulted schools earlier this year, with the majority telling us they were disappointed with the service and wanted more control over their own menus.

“They also told us that they did not want to commit long-term to using the service and many have already begun seeking their own options which means fewer schools are using the service.

“As we lose schools, we lose the potential income which helps fund the service which means we are now faced with a service which is unsustainable.

“There are a number of options available to schools which I believe will actually improve the service and give schools more control over the food they provide for pupils.

“The council is facing some extremely tough and painful decisions, which are made especially difficult when staff, teachers, governors, pupils and parents all work so hard to continually improve levels of achievement and quality in Coventry schools.”

Members of Coventry City Council’s cabinet will discuss the plans at a meeting on Tuesday January 6.

If cabinet members agree to close the service it will shut in July 2015.

Coventry City Council will axe school meals service



Coventry City Council will stop supplying school meals after it said it expected to make a £571,000 loss from providing the service this financial year.

The decision was announced during a cabinet meeting this week and around 184 jobs will be affected by the move. Council officials say talks with trade unions will begin as soon as possible.

A total of 52 schools in the city which get school lunches from the service will now be informed that they should either employ a private company, use Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council’s school meals service or employ the catering staff themselves.

More than half of the city’s schools already either use a private catering company or employ the staff and order the food themselves.

Members of Solihull Borough Council attended Tuesday’s cabinet meeting where the decision was made and Coun David Kershaw, Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for education, said he believed schools signing up to the neighbouring authority’s service was a good solution.

He added the number of schools using Coventry’s service had dropped by almost a third in the last 12 months and a recent survey suggested more were expected to follow.

He said: “Tragically, for a number of years, the school meals service has been losing a considerable amount of money.

“At the beginning of 2014/15 we had 77 schools using the service, we now have 52 with just one secondary school. That is a dramatic reduction and schools are voting with their feet.

“I have a deep commitment to providing high quality school meals because there’s a health issue, particularly in more vulnerable areas.”

Coun Kershaw also said the introduction of compulsory free school meals for certain age groups hadn’t produced expected business growth and the service was now unsustainable.

He added the alternatives would be able to provide fresher food than the current council service.

Tory opposition leader Coun John Blundell said his party agreed with the decision, but called on the council to monitor the situation to ensure pupils were being provided with adequate meals.

The service will shut in July 2015.