This meeting was scheduled to include an overview of free school meal provision in Hampshire, and a proposal to change how school meals are provided to schools in Hampshire. The committee was also scheduled to receive a report on Hampshire County Council’s use of the Household Support Fund and Holiday Activities and Food Programme.

Education Catering - Service Delivery Options Review

The committee was scheduled to pre-scrutinise proposals to change who provides school meals for Hampshire's schools.

The report, prepared by Shaun Le Picq, Director of Children's Services at Hampshire County Council, explains that Hampshire schools use several different arrangements to provide meals, including procuring from the private sector, providing meals with their own catering team or buying the service from the County Council’s in-house Education Catering (EC) service. The report explains that the cost of providing school meals has been increasing in recent years, particularly the cost of food and staff, meaning that the price of school meals has had to increase.

To cover costs, EC has had to increase the school meal price to £3.00 in June 2023 and to £3.20 in September 2024. The September meal price is 67 pence higher than the current UIFSM funding to schools (£2.53 per meal). (CYP Select Committee - Report - Education Catering)

The report explains that the EC service is forecast to be in financial deficit of over £1 million a year.

The report considers several options for the future of the service, including trying to make the service more efficient, discontinuing the service entirely, and procuring the service from private companies on behalf of the schools. The report seeks the Committee's support for a recommendation to cease the in-house provision of school meals and to outsource the service to private providers.

That the County Council ceases to provide an in-house EC service and supports schools in providing alternative arrangements to meet schools’ statutory responsibility for school meals through a managed outsource of the EC service, with a target outsource completion date of end March 2026. (CYP Select Committee - Report - Education Catering)

The report explains that the in-house Education Catering team also provide catering equipment maintenance services, and that this service would also be withdrawn. The report also recommends that the council continue to offer an Online Eligibility Checker to schools, that helps schools determine which pupils are eligible for free school meals.

Children's Free School Meal Provision

The committee was scheduled to receive an overview of the provision of Free School Meal provision in Hampshire’s schools.

Household Support Fund & Holiday Activities and Food Programme

The committee was scheduled to receive an overview of Hampshire’s use of the Household Support Fund and the Holiday Activities and Food Programme.