We need more money if you want us to change school food, say caterers

Catering experts say more funding is key to the successful roll-out of an “ambitious” overhaul of school food standards.

The government has announced changes to the legislative framework, which would limit foods high in fat, salt and sugar, while introducing more fruit, vegetables and fibre.

The Department for Education has confirmed it also plans “robust” enforcement, including monitoring compliance.

The education secretary describes it as “the most ambitious overhaul of school food in a generation” and “long overdue”.

“Every child deserves to have delicious, nutritious food at school that gives them the energy to concentrate, learn and thrive – meals that children will actually recognise and enjoy, backed by robust compliance,” said Bridget Phillipson.

But critics say that without extra funding the reforms could increase pressure on struggling caterers, with costs passed on to schools and parents.

Minister “confident” schools will deliver changes

The DfE said changes such as switching to wholegrain pasta and rice and introducing pulses “can be done without increasing costs”.

Education minister Olivia Bailey told Sky News on Monday she was “really confident that schools will be able to deliver really great quality, healthy food with the meal rate that they have”.

On BBC Breakfast, she said many schools were already “providing this kind of great quality food for their children … really effectively and efficiently with their budgets.”

“I don’t … accept that healthier food needs to be more expensive food.”

But experts say more funding is needed.

Philippa Terry, chief operating officer of catering firm Juniper, said caterers were already operating on margins that did not reflect what it cost to feed children properly.

“If the government raises the bar … without raising the funding to match, something has to give. It will either be quality, staffing or the contract itself.”

She said the standards were “not a dramatic change” for some companies, but limited funding meant many had relied on cheaper, more processed options.

“For those operators, moving to more fruit, vegetables and scratch cooking will cost more. The ingredients cost more. The preparation time costs more.”

She said the proposals suggested a “disconnect” with the reality of school catering.

“The problem is being asked, repeatedly, to do more with a funding envelope that does not stretch to what is being asked of it.”

Per-meal funding not enough

A 2024 School Food Matters (SFM) report found the average price charged to families and schools was about £2.80 per meal in primaries and £2.60 in secondaries, although that varied widely.

The government funded free school meals at £2.61.

Some schools already report paying tens of thousands of pounds from their core budgets to offset costs.

A recent Association for Public Service Excellence report found 85 per cent of local authority caterers felt current funding did not meet the actual costs.

Accounting for staffing, food prices and overheads, SFM in 2024 said £3.16 was needed. Meanwhile The School Food People set the price at £3.45 with a proposal that funding rise with inflation.

FSM expansion looming

Stephanie Slater, the chief executive of SFM, said updated school food standards were “a significant and much-needed step”. But this “must be matched with the funding needed to deliver it”.

The government will increase per-meal funding by 5p (2 per cent) in September, when free school meals are extended to about 500,000 more pupils.

Schools Week analysis earlier this year estimated the shortfall in funding for the pupils gaining eligibility would be £47.5 million.

Brad Pearce, the national chair of The School Food People, warned this would add “further pressure to an already stretched system”.

Seven school catering companies have announced closures in the past seven months, many citing cost as a factor. Others have reduced portion sizes.

Pearce urged the government “to review the funding settlement so that caterers can meet the revised standards”.

Caroline Voaden, the Liberal Democrat schools spokesperson, said the  government could not “yet again” expect schools to subsidise the cost of unfunded promises.

Standards ‘thoroughly tested’

A DfE spokesperson said the proposed standards had been “thoroughly tested with caterers, schools and nutritional experts to make sure they are deliverable, realistic and don’t have detrimental knock-on effects to parents and pupils”.

Several schools reportedly “saw the cost of meals fall” during a trial of the new standards.

The DfE specifically cited Pokesdown Community Primary School in Bournemouth, where uptake has reportedly risen from 28 to 90 per cent “since changing their food to healthier food”. But the DfE confirmed Pokesdown was not involved in the trial.

Meanwhile school catering company The Pantry, which trialled the standards for six weeks at a primary, said meal uptake fell 15 per cent, while the per-pupil cost rose by 21p per day.

Luke Consiglio, its chief executive, said he feared the “more prescriptive and rigid” standards – which limited items such as cheese – could “push away the very parents and children we’re trying to support and attract”.

Pupils, particularly in secondaries, could be “pushed towards making even less healthy choices”, including skipping lunch, bringing in less healthy choices or opting for local fast food.

Terry agreed that if new menus “feel healthier on paper but less appealing on the plate, secondary uptake will drop”.

A DfE spokesperson said: “Different schools trialled different options, as you would expect of any trial, and the findings informed the proposals we published this week – including a phased approach that will give caterers time to adapt.”

They urged schools, parents and caterers to take part in its ongoing consultation “to make sure we get this right.”

If approved, the new standards would launch in primary schools in September next year, with a phased rollout in secondaries.

Tighter monitoring

Previous studies have shown not all schools fully comply with the standards.

A recent survey by The School Food People showed less than a third of members had been asked by schools how they met the standards.

But the DfE said it was “committed to developing a robust national enforcement system” to make sure standards were met, including monitoring schools’ compliance.

It is not yet clear how this monitoring will take place.

However, a recent pilot by the Food Standards Agency explored whether local authority food safety officers could carry out school food standards checks, alongside routine food hygiene checks.

The pilot ran across 18 council areas. It found while FSA officers found the checks straightforward to administer and schools were “happy” to facilitate them, there was “inconsistency” in how schools then addressed non-compliance.

“Significant barriers” were experienced by councils when following up with schools about non-compliance. “Many” saw issues with internal communication and communication with schools and caterers, while some “did not have the resource or expertise to provide support for schools”.

The report said a challenge would be finding a nationally standardised follow-up process for schools that don’t comply with the standards, which all councils could follow regardless of their context and involvement in school food. It said “additional support” may be needed to help councils fulfil this role.

Questions about food safety visits

Reza Schwitzer, principal consultant at Avencera, specialising in public sector transformation, said the pilot “raises interesting questions” on whether schools could receive more frequent visits from food safety officers, and how standards would then be enforced, “given the problems the FSA has identified with LA capacity to do anything with the information”.

The DfE declined to provide further details when asked about the FSA pilot.

It said only that full details of the compliance checks will be announced this September, and enforcement will begin in September next year.

The DfE is also proposing that all schools should be required to publish their food policies and menus online, and that schools appoint a governor to lead on school food and hold school leadership to account if standards were not met.

Terry added that practical help was also needed, such as investment in training, and help tackling issues such as queuing, to help prevent schools “losing pupils to the high street” when the changes come in.

Consultation on the changes is running until June 13.