Agenda item

Committee considered a report which detailed the progress made on the roll-out of Universal Primary School Free School Meals (UPFSM) provision across Carmarthenshire.  The report set out the Authority’s performance in terms of the scale of the roll out against Welsh Government targets, funding arrangements, dietary requirements, staffing implications and capacity issues.

The Committee was pleased to note that the UPFSM offer had been implemented across the county’s 97 educational settings within the Welsh Government target dates and commended the endeavours of officers in this regard. 

Funding amounting to £3.8m had been allocated to facilitate the roll out and a vast amount of work had been undertaken to increase capacity and improve the infrastructure of school kitchens to enable the Authority to cater for a 100% uptake of UPFSM across all age groups.  Furthermore, the central kitchens had been upgraded, and a new kitchen facility had also been constructed at the old Ysgol Gorslas school site to ‘future proof’ the service and enable a strategic review of resources going forward.

The issues/observations raised by the Committee were addressed as follows:-

The Senior Catering Manager clarified to the Committee that while the grant funding enabled compliance in terms of infrastructure and capacity issues, further funding in the region of £300k would be required to meet all costs. In respect of the cost per meal allocation from Welsh Government, the Senior Catering Manager confirmed that the funding allocation was under review and the Authority’s costings in this regard would be circulated to the Committee in due course.

In response to concerns raised in respect of the sugar content of school meals, an assurance was provided that the Authority was fully compliant with the ‘Welsh Government Healthy Eating in Schools’ guidelines and the nutritional data of school meals would be circulated to the Committee in due course.

In recognition that the Pupil Development Grant (PDG) was an important measure for all schools across Wales to support vulnerable children concerns were raised that the roll out of UPFSM would adversely impact upon the level of PDG funding available for schools as parents/guardians were no longer required to apply for free school meals.  The Head of Education Services and Inclusion clarified that Welsh Government was currently exploring its grant funding mechanism for schools and a consultation exercise was currently underway with a view to ensuring that the deprivation figures held by Welsh Government reflected the challenges faced by schools.  The Chair noted that consideration would be given by the Committee to receiving an update report in due course on Welsh Government funding streams. In the interim period, all relevant parents/guardians were encouraged to declare their eligibility for free school meals to enable schools to access the appropriate level of PDG funding.

The Committee reviewed the ongoing staffing pressures within the service which had been further been exacerbated by the roll out of UPFSM. Members acknowledged that the demographic and skill set of the current workforce presented the greatest ongoing risk to the service and were assured to note that the situation was being closely monitored, with contingency arrangements in place to ensure that hot school meals could be prepared and delivered to schools in readiness for the lunchtime period.

The Committee welcomed the introduction of the new Local Authority Recruitment System ‘Oleeo’ which had significantly improved the speed and transparency in recruitment.  The Committee was assured to note that initiatives had been implemented to facilitate staff retention which included development opportunities and input into the development of menus where possible.   

A discussion ensued on the importance of the use of local produce for school meals and the Committee was interested to note that a pilot project was underway whereby a local farm would be utilised to supply produce to two primary schools and a secondary school.  Initiatives were also underway to support local produce as part of the British Food Fortnight and the ‘Cook 24’ scheme had been introduced across schools to develop food leaders and increase the utilisation of local food production.  Furthermore, reference was made to the on-site allotment in Llandeilo school where children could help grow and harvest vegetables to be used in cooking lessons.

RESOLVED that:-