Big canteen bill to meet free school meals demand in Highlands

Highland Council will require a £5 million hand-out to build new dining rooms and kitchens in five schools before it is ready to serve free canteen meals to all children in primary 1 to primary 3 in January.

The Scottish Government is meeting the cost of the building work but school lunches may need to be cooked in nearby care homes if the work is not finished on time.

A report published this week reveals five schools - yet to be named - each need £750,000 worth of adaptations.

But about 30 schools in total are believed to be in need of some alterations before the January deadline.

Councillor David Alston, the local authority’s deputy leader, said the cost was thought to total £5 million.

"We have a very large school estate so it will be complicated for the council," he said.

It has also emerged the council is facing a funding black-hole as the cost of school meals continues to rise.

The matters were debated at the latest education, children and adult services committee.

The local authority is inspecting its school estate to ensure schools are equipped for the anticipated rise in school meal uptake.

The initiative is being rolled-out to children in primary 1 to 3 across the country.

Members were told at least 15 schools across Highland could face a 50 per cent increase in the number of meals served every day.

In her report, Norma Murray, facilities services manager, warned some schools may not be updated in time and flexibility would be needed.

She said: "The short term solutions may include additional sittings, extension of the lunch time, or use of other rooms for packed lunches."

Margaret Somerville, NHS Highland’s director of public health, said care homes and other local buildings may be willing to share their kitchens until the restoration project is complete.

At the same meeting, councillors sought assurances the quality of school dinners would not go down as the cost of food continues to rise.

The local authority is facing a £290,000 overspend on its catering budget raising fears food standards will fall.

Margaret Patterson, Cromarty Firth councillor, said the funding black-hole was worrying.

"It really fills me with concern," she said. "I want assurances that we won’t be cutting back on the quality of our food. We source our food locally and I would hate to see that stopping because the quality is fantastic."

Alasdair Christie, chairman of the education, children and adult services committee, said there was no cause for alarm.

"We pride ourselves on the food that we provide in schools," he said. "We source all our meat locally.

"That’s one of the reasons we didn’t have strange animals turning up in our dishes when other areas were hit by the horse meat scandal. And we pay more and it’s worth it.

"I don’t see any reason why we should move away from providing the quality and the variety that we do at the moment."

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