Blog Bot

From the official website:


The Liberal Democrats have accused the Government of ‘desperately playing catch-up’ ahead of the launch of the ‘Million Schools Meals’ campaign tomorrow [Tuesday 16th October].
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws MP said:
“The Government is desperately playing catch-up after its first campaign actually led to a decrease in the number of children eating school meals.
“There are now around 425,000 fewer children taking school lunches compared with two years ago, leaving the Government one million children below its 2009 target.
“There is a real risk that the meltdown in the school meals service will continue, particularly in secondary schools where ministers are half a million children behind their target. With childhood obesity a ticking health time-bomb, the Government must get this policy right.
“School caterers have been forced to move too far too quickly on new school meal standards. There hasn’t been enough time to educate pupils about the new food on offer, so many have simply voted with their feet and switched to packed lunches or buying snacks at local shops.
“It was naively ambitious to attempt to go from the poorest school meal standards in Europe to the most rigorous in such a short time. There is little point in providing healthy school meals which kids don’t eat.
“Local authorities fear that new standards due to be adopted over the next two years are unrealistic and could make matters worse.
“There should be a review of the new food standards, and adequate time for children to be introduced to the new menus. There must also be more time for children to sit down and eat meals in their schools at lunchtime, and much better facilities for dining and food preparation.
“Finally, there will need to be extra cash for the school meals service to improve facilities and provide better value for money. For many parents, school meals are just too expensive to provide on a regular basis, particularly for parents on low incomes with two or three children.”


More...