9. Key Findings
free school meal monies. At present there are two situations from which these funding
discrepancies might arise.
9.9 Firstly, at present each LEA derives its own formula for assessing the sums delegated to
schools, and anomalies of funding for free school meals arise with the use of some
formulae. LEAs which delegate funding on the basis of the number of eligible pupils
create a situation in which some schools find themselves with unspent funds when take-
up of meals fails to match eligibility. At the same time, other schools may find
themselves with a current take-up which is higher than the eligibility on which their
budget has been assessed, requiring the school to make good the overspend using other
funds.
9.10 Secondly, a further source of anomaly had arisen since delegation. Previously, central
contracts in which most schools participated provided price conformity across schools.
With delegation, schools outside the central contract have been setting their own pricing
structures for meals, reflecting the commercial cost to the school of providing the meal.
This has had important consequences for the provision of free school meals.
Specifically, pupils entitled to free school meals in schools with set price menus would
almost certainly continue to receive an adequate meal. However the cost of this meal
may well be above the sum set at authority level for the value of the free school meal.
Schools in this situation will receive delegated funding for meals, at the standard rate but
will need to subsidise the difference for each free school meal from other sources. In
schools with self-service cafeterias, increased prices may result in pupils on free school
meal being unable to purchase an adequate meal without a supplement from their own
money.
9.11 The delegated budget therefore needs to cover the cost of supplying a free school meal
that conforms to the required nutritional standard, with delegation formulae
acknowledging that the cost of supplying free school meals varies from school to
school. Without that flexibility, schools are forced to subsidise free school meals from
their own budgets or alternatively, pupils entitled to free school meals will not have
access to a meal of the required standard without their personal subsidy.
Support for school staff and governors and the monitoring of meal provision
9.12 Support from LEAs for schools and governing bodies was limited in the early stages of
delegation, though LEAs had put support and advice services in place to help guide
schools through the processes of setting up new contracts or new kitchens. However,
some schools had found the prospect daunting, and decided against taking the
opportunities that delegation offered. With good support systems in place, schools and
governors might have been less reluctant to take on the additional responsibilities of
meal services, reassured that they could call upon expert advice.
9.13 A major concern highlighted by the study is with the current situation in respect of
monitoring the meals service.. The lack of clarity at LEA level regarding statutory
responsibility for monitoring was reflected in the range of monitoring procedures in
operation.
51