Agenda item

To update the Schools Forum on the Mayor’s Free School Meals pledge for primary aged children in Key Stage 2 for the academic year 2023/24.

Shirley Parks, Operational Director, Safeguarding, Partnerships and Strategy introduced the report that provided an update on the Mayor’s Free School Meals (FSM) pledge for primary aged children in Key Stage 2 for the academic year 2023/24. The following key points were highlighted:

·                     Brent’s indicative grant allocation was £5m, based on an assumed 90% uptake for the number of children who were not eligible for the current Government’s FSM grant. The indicative figure was based on October 2022 census and would be finalised once the May 2023 school census figures were published.

·                     Payments would be at a rate of £2.65 per meal. This was above the Government rate of £2.41 because it included funding to cover the administration and staffing costs associated with the delivery of the programme.

·                     Payments would be made to schools termly in advance to allow for upfront costs to be covered - 50% of the funding was due to be paid in July 2023, with a further 20% in December and a further 20% in March 2024. A balance of 10% would be held back for the final payment and adjusted accordingly based on October 2023 and January 2024 census data.

·                     A balancing payment or claw back determined by the difference would be made before the end of the summer term 2024.

·                     The Forum’s attention was drawn to the grant conditions as laid out in section 4.0 of the accompanying report that highlighted how the funding should be used to deliver the programme.

·                     It was noted that in order to provide culturally appropriate options, some schools may need to request the difference in funding from parents/carers to cover the costs. The Forum was advised that this may be the case in schools with large Jewish or Islamic communities due to the increased cost of sourcing Kosher and Halal food.

·                     The Forum was cognizant of the additional complexities for schools in delivering the scheme successfully, given the attention required on staffing and infrastructure as well as the potentially negative impact the scheme could have on eligible families applying for Pupil Premium funding.

·                     The Forum noted the amendment to the policy whereby schools that were unable to provide additional hot meals to pupils could choose to provide a cold lunch service.  If it was not feasible to provide either option, schools could seek agreement from the Mayor of Londons office under exceptional circumstances to provide vouchers.

The Chair thanked Shirley Parks for the update provided and invited Forum members to ask any questions they had in relation to the information heard. The following points were discussed:

·                     The Forum required clarity on whether special schools would receive the additional funding. Officers advised that they would seek confirmation from the Mayor’s Office and special schools would be contracted to confirm the arrangements.

·                     The Forum questioned whether any of the funding provided could be used for capital infrastructure changes to support the delivery of the programme in schools. In response officers advised that as stated in section 3.3 of the report the increased rate of funding at £2.65 per meal was considered adequate to cover the costs associated with delivering the programme, however, could not be used for capital infrastructure changes.

As there were no further questions the Forum RESOLVED to note the report and the following action points to take forward.

Action Point 91:

Clarification to be provided to special schools to advise whether they were eligible to receive the funding to support the delivery of the Mayor’s Free School Meals scheme.

Action Point 92:

Schools Forum to receive an update on the delivery of the Mayor’s Free School Meal scheme at the Schools Forum in January 2024.