Primary school meals 'absolutely shocking'

The quality of some school meals has been described as "absolutely shocking", with children reportedly going home hungry.

Carl Marshall, leader of County Durham Labour, told a council meeting high costs and budget pressures were impacting primary school meals.

He suggested Durham County Council should look at its contract with Chartwells, the current provider of school meals in some of its primary schools.

Chartwells said it "always worked hard to provide value for money".

The contractor said, due to ongoing inflation with food and labour costs, it had increased school meal prices in an agreement with Durham County Council primary school meals board.

“Quality control measures of the school meals provision are in place through a monitoring programme carried out by the council," Chartwells added.

However Mr Marshall said the increase was "hitting parents of children who aren’t on free school meals but are clearly struggling to make ends meet".

“The quality of school meals in County Durham is absolutely shocking,” he told a Durham County Council scrutiny meeting.

“Kids are coming home hungry on an evening.”

Parent Rhonda Wright believes the rising costs had not improved quality.

“My daughter comes home famished every day,” she said.

Jim Murray, Durham County Council’s head of education and skills, said the increase remained in line with average school meal prices across the UK.

“We continue to provide free school meals for eligible pupils and would encourage parents and guardians to check their eligibility so that they don’t miss out on their entitlement," he added.

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