Pupils relish free meals

Published: 20 May, 2011

• THE Lib Dems are again doing their party trick of trying to pretend that free school meals equal the £52million in savings this Conservative-Lib Dem government is forcing us to make (Pensioners left in limbo, May 13). They don’t.  

Faced with the harshest cuts since the Second World War, and hit harder than any other London borough, your Labour council has had to make some very tough choices. 

The social services department, as one of the two highest spending departments in the council, is sadly no different. 

The changes we are making bring Islington in line with most other councils and only those with more than £23,250 of savings will be asked to contribute. 

Personal budgets give our older residents the freedom to spend on the services they want.

I am pleased to say that, despite this attack on our community, we have been able to keep Sotheby Mews Day Centre open and to provide accessible transport to lunch clubs at a very low rate. Contrary to Councillor Rhodri Jamieson-Ball’s assertions, the PlusBus is still running.

Our free school meals policy – a central part of our manifesto, on which we were elected with a big majority and on which we do not intend to do a u-turn – has raised school meal take-up from 60 per cent to 80 per cent, including 1,000 more children from the lowest-income families who were already entitled but didn’t previously claim.  

Not only has that brought in more than £430,000 in additional funding for our schools, and enabled us to make savings in the schools meal contract, it has ensured all our children get at least one hot decent meal a day.

CLLR JANET BURGESS
Labour executive member for health and adult social care