EDUCATION-JAN10-PG06-11:Page 6 06/01/2010 09:33 Page 7
News
What price a
healthy school lunch?
The School Food Trust is calling for a January sale on school lunches
- as new research highlights the importance of price when it comes
to encouraging more children to try a healthy school meal.
T
he Trust – the organisation charged with transforming school food Trust is now working with schools in North Somerset to explore how one of
– is urging more local authorities and schools to join the high street those incentives, ‘All Meals for £1’, can sustain increased take up over a longer
in using special offers to tempt customers, at a time of year when cash period.
is particularly tight for parents. Bolton Council is currently offering school meals for £1 to all children in its
It comes with the publication of new research showing that any rise in price primary schools during the spring term. Executive Member for Environmental
for school meals is likely to see a fall in the number of pupils buying them – Services, Councillor Ismail Ibrahim, said: "This move is aimed at encouraging
with demand for school food more sensitive to price changes than other food more children to eat healthily by having a school meal at an affordable price.
products. “We want to offer healthy, tasty, affordable meals to all our primary school
The Trust’s Chief Executive, Judy Hargadon, said: “This study underlines the children. We know times are tough and what better way to help families
importance of price for parents and pupils when making the choice to buy a struggling in the current climate?
school lunch. “Our school meals are among the best in the country and we’re hoping to
“We know that caterers are already working hard to keep costs down in a see more pupils tucking into a school meal through this initiative."
very tough trading environment. But if we want to make sure that more Ms Hargadon added: “To help keep prices low, we’re working with local
children have access to a well-balanced school lunch and that school meals authorities, caterers, cooks and schools on making their services as efficient as
can play their full part in improving children’s health, we can’t ignore what our possible, to promote their meals to children, to improve their facilities and to
customers are telling us about the price they’re prepared to pay.” make the whole school meal experience a happy one.”
The research, by London Economics, suggests that demand for school food The full report can be found at
is more sensitive to changes in price than other food products. For a 10% www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/news_item.asp?newsCatId=2&NewsId=212
increase in price of school meals, a fall in take up of between 7% and 10% The Government’s School Lunch Grant is providing support for local
can be expected. authorities and schools to keep down the price of school meals from April
The School Food Trust is already working with local authorities around the 2008 to March 2011, with £80m of ring-fenced funding available for each of
country to test the impacts of price incentives on school meal take up. Primary those three years.
schools in York and Waltham Forest tested a series of week-long price offers The School Food Trust also provides a range of resources to support schools
in 2009 and suggested that the number of children eating a school lunch in increasing demand for school lunches, enabling services to run more
during the trials increased by 22% and 10% respectively. The School Food efficiently, building skills and kitchen capacity and improving dining spaces.
Victory in the Court of Appeal will secure employment
rights for over 150 UK teachers based overseas
T
he Court of Appeal recently handed down status after working for four years. institutions. Under rules imposed by European
judgment on an important case* that will Chris Keates, General Secretary of the Schools no teacher is able to work for a School
help secure the rights of over 150 UK NASUWT stated: “We are delighted that the for longer than nine years (known as the “nine
teachers working in European Schools, says Court of Appeal has upheld the rights of teachers. year rule”).
City law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain The employment rights of teachers based The litigation arose out of the DCSF’s policy of
LLP (RPC). These Schools are funded jointly overseas will now be secured.” automatically dismissing the teachers at the expiry
by the EU Member States to provide Mary Bousted, General Secretary of the ATL, of their final fixed-term contract after nine years.
education for the children of EU officials. adds: “This groundbreaking judgment shows the The Regulations governing the treatment of
The teachers who brought the case against the government's approach to employing teachers employees on fixed-term contracts derive from EC
Department for Children Schools and Families abroad is legally flawed.” law. They state that employees employed on a
(DCSF) were supported by their unions the Comments Simon Henthorn, Senior Associate succession of fixed-term contracts for four or
NASUWT and ATL. at RPC who was instructed by the unions to act in more years are classed as permanent employees
The result represents a comprehensive victory the litigation: “The teachers, who are based unless the use of the fixed-term contracts is
for the NASUWT and ATL and their members over overseas, will now be able to bring a claim in the justified on objective grounds.
the Government’s stance in its treatment of English tribunals for unfair dismissal as well as The Government argued its use of fixed-term
teachers working in European Schools (see wrongful dismissal on expiry of their employment. contracts was justified based on the nine year rule
“Background” for explanation of European They will now have an effective remedy available imposed by the regime which established the
Schools). to vindicate their rights derived from EC law.” schools. The court dismissed this argument and
The Claimants succeeded in all three of their found that the teachers should be treated as
appeals meaning that: Background permanent employees.
· The teachers may bring claims for wrongful The claimant teachers had been employed by the The court also decided that the teachers can
dismissal and unfair dismissal in the tribunals in DCSF on a series of fixed-term contracts to work bring claims for unfair dismissal and wrongful
England. in European Schools. dismissal in the English tribunals even though they
· Teachers employed by the DCSF to work in The Schools were established under a separate were based overseas.
European Schools on a succession of fixed-term legal regime to provide education for the children Counsel were Nigel Giffin QC and Simon
contracts are entitled to permanent employment of parents posted to work for European Henthorn.
* Mr K P Duncombe & Others and Mr J R Fletcher v Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
January 2010
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