THE government is ‘unable to commit’ to offering free school meals to all students with parents on income support by September, the Education Minister has said.
Deputy Scott Wickenden has responded to a letter from Victoria College students calling for the government to ‘build upon’ a pilot school-lunch programme launched by Caring Cooks, which provides a daily main meal and dessert to children at Janvrin, Samarès and St Luke’s primary schools and was recently extended to St Martin’s and St Peter’s schools.
Taking inspiration from England footballer Marcus Rashford’s successful free school meals campaign, the pupils asked for a ‘formal commitment’ from the government that all students with parents on income support would be provided with free school meals by September.
However, Deputy Wickenden – who was presented with the letter on behalf of Victoria College’s ‘food poverty advocacy group’ in November – said only three primary schools have a suitable area where hot lunches can be effectively and safely delivered.
He added that disruption to the school term and pressures from Covid-19 had delayed his reply, and asked to discuss the issue with students next week.
In his response, the Deputy wrote: ‘Thank you for meeting me to share your concerns about free school meals in Jersey and hand over your letter dated 19 November 2021.
‘I am impressed by the thought and passion you, the advocacy group and all the signatories have shown.
‘I am unable to commit to your request that all students with parents on income support, regardless of the school they attend, will be provided with free school meals by September this year.’
He added: ‘This is not due to a lack of understanding, lack of funds or lack of political support, it is quite simply a logistical and resourcing issue that cannot be solved within that timescale.
‘I am directly responsible for 24 primary schools and currently only three of them have a servery area which enables the effective and safe delivery of nutritious hot lunches to the students.
‘I am pleased to advise that another two schools will have serveries by the end of February, but this still leaves 19 schools with over 4,000 students without the physical resources to do this safely.’
Writing in the JEP last month, Hannah Skelton, operating manager at Caring Cooks, said as many as 1,000 children are unable to access a hot meal each day due to a lack of funds or inadequate facilities.
In his letter, Deputy Wickenden said the government would consider a ‘range of fiscal measures’ to help improve access to a healthy balanced diet for key target groups, as part of its food and nutrition strategy.
He said: ‘Procuring and building 19 more serveries and a supplier who can deliver thousands of meals per day is not a simple task and must be done in accordance with the Public Finances Law and Manual. We must also ensure the safety, quality and nutrition that we all want.’
He added: ‘We are moving in the right direction to achieve your aims and I hope the above explanation helps with understanding why this cannot all be done in 2022.’
