Cost of school dinners to rise in part of Greater Manchester amid spiralling food prices

The cost of a school meal in Salford is to rise for the first time in three years.

Members of the city council’s cabinet have”reluctantly” agreed to the rise of 10p to £2.20 which will take effect on January 1 2023.

Councillor Barbara Bentham, lead member for environment, neighbourhoods and community safety, said: “We have kept prices fairly stable for the last seven years, and this would be the first increase since April 2019.

“It is something we are considering very reluctantly but the loss of income during the pandemic combined with increasing costs has affected the service very badly.”

She said it was expected food prices would rise by a further 17 % this year and with “unprecedented increases in the cost of utilities and fuel”, the service is at risk of becoming unviable.

Coun Bentham went on: “We know that for some of our children, the school meal is the main meal of the day, and with this in mind, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards and will not compromise on the quality or quantity of food we serve to our children.”

She said that with school meals at £2.20 they are priced joint lowest of the 10 authorities in Greater Manchester.

Some 11,000 school meals a day are delivered to 57 schools across the city for 190 days a year. Some 300 permanent staff are employed on a turnover of £6 million a year.

Coun Bill Hinds said of the increase: “I don’t think we’ve any real choice. We are living in unprecedented times.”

Alluding to a possible dip in the number of schoolchildren opting to have school meals, he said: “When we’ve raised prices before there hasn’t been any fall off, but this time there could be.

“People who are paying now are really struggling in many cases. People may decide to walk away [from taking meals].”

Coun Tracy Kelly echoed his comments when she said: “This is being done reluctantly, but there is a role for us all to play in talking to parents and staff and supporting them where necessary.”