School meal price rises paused in Nottinghamshire

Prices were set to rise by 40p next week, to deal with shooting energy, food and staff costs

Author: Ella BicknellPublished 9th Oct 2023

Nottinghamshire County Council have paused plans to increase the price of school meals after facing uproar from parents.

Plans were in place to increase the price of meals by 40p from £2.55 to £2.95.

It was to cover the costs of rising food, energy and staff costs.

The Independent Alliance opposition and Labour councillors called the decision in for further scrutiny, meaning the plans will not go through on the 16th October.

A spokeswoman for Nottinghamshire County Council said: “The proposed school meal price increase is currently being considered under the county council’s call-in process.

“Therefore we are not in a position to put the planned price rise in place from October 16, and have this week written to those schools that use our catering services to let them know about this latest update.

“We’ll be in touch with schools again once the call in process is completed.”

Councillor Francis Purdue-Horan, an Independent councillor who called the decision in for further scrutiny, said: “We welcome the fact that this shameless decision by the Tories has been paused.

“We are meeting Tory and county bosses on Monday when the Independent Alliance will be repeating their call for them to axe these cruel, callous plans.

“Planning to increase the cost of school dinners by 15 per cent in the middle of a cost of living crisis shows how out of touch the Tories are.”

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