Council to outsource school meals

Catering service was relying on subsidy

- Phil Corrigan Local Democracy Reporter

COUNCIL leaders have agreed to outsource their authority's loss-making school catering service.

City Catering provides meals to dozens of schools in the Potteries but relies on a subsidy from cash-strapped Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

Cabinet members have now approved plans to permanently transfer the service, including its staff, to a third-party operator or a joint venture company. The decision was taken in a behind-closed-doors meeting last week.

A report considered by cabinet members, which has not been made public, set out the service's current and projected financial performance, and the steps taken to improve the situation over the last 18 months.