Primary schools in some London boroughs will be left out of pocket and unevenly hit by costs from Sadiq Khan‘s £130 million free school meal plan, new research has suggested.
Under the London Mayor’s plan, all primary school children in the capital will receive free school meals for the next academic year, with Mr Khan’s office funding £2.65 per meal – an increase from the £2.41 per meal currently paid for by the Government.
But some councils, such as Lewisham, have warned that the true cost of meal is actually £3 per child, creating a £600,000 shortfall in borough finances to plug the gap and make sure every child is given free meals from September.
In other areas, however, boroughs have said the new scheme will result in an excess amount of cash, prompting fears that the scheme has been distributed unevenly across London.
School food campaigner Andy Jolley said that Mr Khan had ‘completely underestimated the difficulties of implementation’ and that schools would be left to ‘pick up the pieces’.
