School leaders and experts have sounded an alarm over schools’ inability to intervene on meals contracts that were tied into private finance initiative (PFI) deals when their premises were built.
The concerns were raised today after a headteacher apologised for the “completely unacceptable” food provided at his school in a letter to parents.
Jason Ashley, head of Redbridge Community School in Southampton, said: “How difficult is it to bake a potato?” and, in the message to parents and carers, expressed his anger and disappointment over the standard of meals provided.
The secondary school’s dinners are provided by Chartwells, a national catering company.
Mr Ashley said he had no control over the food on offer to pupils, adding that there had been a lack of progress made after talks with the company.
The school was built under a PFI contract and was converted to an academy in 2013.
Andy Jolley, a former school governor and free school meal campaigner, said on the social media site X that a school would usually cancel the contract and change supplier “if there are regular performance issues”. However, PFI schools such as Redbridge “have no control over the catering contract”.
Reacting to the letter on social media, Micon Metcalfe, executive leader of the PACE Multi Academy Trust in the south east, which is made up of five primary schools, said she had “lots of questions” after learning that catering in PFI schools was subject to terms set under the PFI contract when the premises were built.
She added that “many trusts are wary of PFI schools” as the “contract typically doesn’t transfer” from the local authority to academy control.
Meanwhile headteachers’ leader Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he applauded Mr Ashley for highlighting the issue and called on the government to improve funding for school meals.
“There is a wider problem of funding for school meals being inadequate,” he said.
“Good quality school meals should be available to everyone as a matter of course, but are particularly important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who may be more reliant on being able to access nutritious food at school.
“We would urge the government to improve the level of funding for school meals, and widen the eligibility criteria for children receiving free school meals.”
In his letter, Mr Ashley added that the food served at his school’s canteen was “completely unacceptable” and that he would be “exceptionally unhappy” if his own children’s school meals were of similar quality.
“We have concluded with our photo evidence that Chartwells do seem to be unable to bake a potato correctly. Our evidence shows that in recent times, portions have gotten smaller, while prices have risen.
“For example, recently it was British ‘pie week’ and the pie served was of extremely poor quality when compared to our partner schools.”
Images attached to the letter showed meals served to staff, including baked potatoes, chips and a roast dinner.
Mr Ashley said he could “no longer tolerate, provide reasons or even justify to you the unacceptable nature of the food”.
He added: “I hope that you are as angry and as disappointed as me. For those of you that pay from your hard-earned wages, I can only apologise and I am sorry.
“However, nothing I seem to do or say makes any difference and I feel you have the right to know.”
Chartwells promises ‘immediate action plan’
In a statement, a spokesman for Chartwells apologised and said: “We recognise the importance of school meals and our teams work hard to provide good quality food every day.
“We apologise that in this instance, our usual level of service has fallen below the high standards we demand. We are committed to working in collaboration with the school and are implementing an immediate action plan to rectify these issues.”
The organisation previously faced a backlash in 2021 after photographs of their free school meal parcels were shared and criticised on social media.
The former prime minister Boris Johnson said in a Commons address that the parcels were an “insult” to the families who received them, while the former home secretary Priti Patel said they were “appalling in every way”.
The provider acknowledged in a statement at the time that there were local issues following school closures and vowed to add breakfast foods to the parcels to “further support children with their learning through the day”.
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.
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