Free school meals pilot is 'improving children's learning'

Pupils and teachers at Acomb’s Westfield Community Primary School, one of two in York piloting the scheme for six months, said it had changed the school day for the better.

City of York Council’s Children and Education Executive Member Cllr Bob Webb said he wanted national support to be an ambition for the new Labour government but national finances made it difficult.

It comes after the pilots at Westfield and Burton Green Primary School, which have seen all children in years three to six get school meals for free, began in January.

The scheme was put forward by the Labour group in their manifesto during last year’s local elections.

The council has spent a total of £100,000 on the Westfield pilot so far and has guaranteed funding until the end of the current administration’s term in 2027.

Westfield Primary Community School, in Askham Lane, Acomb, York

It hopes to raise further funds through donations to its Hungry Minds appeal which has so far received money from Permission Homes among others.

But critics including former Liberal Democrat council leader Steve Galloway have said the money could be used in other ways to alleviate poverty more effectively.

And questions remain over how the council will cover the estimated £3 million cost of rolling out the scheme to all of York’s 57 primary school.

At Westfield, 10-year-old pupil Reuben told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) packed lunches were now almost a thing of the past.

Year 4 teacher Amy Lackenby told LDRS the scheme had left children more energised in the afternoon and better able to take part in lessons.

Year Four teacher Amy Lackenby, at Westfield Primary Community School, in Acomb, York

Miss Lackenby said: “We know some families were struggling because pack ups were becoming more expensive to make, this has created more equality in the school.”

Cllr Webb said the council chose to spend money on the scheme because it would help children’s development in the long term while saving parents money.

The executive member added uptake had been good and dismissed criticism as cynical, but conceded that the Government was stretched in terms of any financial support it could provide.

Cllr Webb said: “We’ve got researchers at the universities of York and Leeds who are currently evaluating this and then it’ll be scrutinised and then there’ll be decisions about what we do with funding.

Cllr Bob Webb

“This will be what York makes of it, we’ve now got a new Government which will hopefully bring more money to this, there was a pledge to introduce free breakfast clubs in the Labour manifesto.

“But the Labour government has inherited some of the worst finances since the Second World War, so we can’t just flip a switch but we hope free school meals will stay as an ambition.

“I can’t just wait for the Government to start alleviating poverty in York, we’d love it if they’d supported us but the country’s finances are in a difficult place.

“But we’ve got a lot of generous people in York willing to support us.”