School catering service to close in Hampshire

The county council’s in-house catering services for schools will close in March 2026 as the final decision on its future has been made.

Since April 2022, 139 schools have left the council catering services, leaving the authority with a 31 per cent loss of business.

Hampshire County Council has agreed (December 6) to end its school catering service, known as HC3S, which currently provides meals to 364 schools and 33 early years settings in Hampshire.

The decision comes from the lack of government funding that pressures the council to increase the price of meals to £3.20. This is 67 per cent higher than the amount schools get for eligible children in reception, year 1, and year 2 to have free school meals.

Additionally, the council faced significant financial strain and struggled to compete with other providers, ultimately leading bosses to make this decision.

The county council will begin sourcing school meals from alternative providers through a ‘managed outsourced’ arrangement, acting on behalf of schools and nurseries.

According to the council, the decision could benefit schools and families to pay lower meal prices.

On his decision day, Cllr Steve Forster, cabinet member for education, said: “In light of these pressures and to cover our costs, we have needed to increase the price of our school meals over time, and as such, this now exceeds the amount that schools receive from government to purchase individual meals.

“With government funding continuing to fall short, our necessary price increases have placed an added and regrettable burden on our schools’ budgets, with many choosing to move to other, more affordable suppliers.

“Outsourcing our school meals service to private providers, who have lower operating costs and are generally able to charge less, therefore presents a more attractive option for schools and paying families while freeing us from the financial risk now associated with providing an in-house service.”

However, council members at the select committee raised concerns about the quality of the food, questioning how it would be managed moving forward.

Director of children’s services Stuart Ashley said that all providers must meet the standards, emphasising that there should be “no difference” from the services currently being offered.

Mr Ashley said: “Headteachers and their staff are very clear about what food they want for their students. Families are also very clear, and I have absolutely no doubt that children know what they want.”

Concerns regarding support for small schools were also brought up. The council assured that they would receive comprehensive assistance in finding suitable provisions and securing a “good deal.”

In certain situations, there might even be possibilities for schools to collaborate and “pool” their resources together.

While local authorities are ultimately responsible for ensuring free school meals are provided to eligible children, they are not legally required to run their own catering services to fulfil this.

Mr Ashley noted that the administration can no longer afford to provide the service, as they believe it won’t be sustainable in the long run.

Catering is one of the services the county council sells to schools, generating more than £90m of income every year. It has a yearly turnover of £36.7 million and accounts for approximately 40 per cent of total revenue from schools.