School Meals - the Facts

10.39.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 12th Oct 2006

The Liberal Democrat Leader of the Council, Councillor Isobel McCall, has rebutted inaccurate media speculation about the future of school meals in Milton Keynes.

She said: "We fully support the excellent work Jamie Oliver has done in bringing the vital issue of the quality of school meals to the attention of the public. But he is in the happy position of being able to comment on these issues without answering to the Milton Keynes taxpayer. As the elected Council in Milton Keynes, we are tasked with spending public money responsibly.

"Cuts to the Council's catering service are an option - and we stress only an option at this stage - because we have to consider the other vital services that the Council provides within budgetary constraints.

"Unfortunately, the national media coverage about healthy school meals has had a very negative impact on school meals services, not just in Milton Keynes, but across the country. The statistics on take-up of school meals sadly show a serious decline over the past 18 months.

"In Milton Keynes, the decline began at the start of 2005, when a change in contractors, who introduced more fresh, home-made food, resulted in a drop of around 20%. This was remedied within a few weeks through marketing initiatives. The first Jamie Oliver series produced a second decline, which varied from school to school, but was an average reduction in take-up of 22%. More recently, there has been a further drop at the start of the current school term. Overall, these declines have resulted in serious financial loss to Milton Keynes Council's catering service."