Decision details

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Economy which informed the Cabinet of the current financial and operating position of Oldham Education Catering Service (OECS) who provided catering for 46 schools in Oldham.  There were several issues of concern for the delivery of the service including increasing costs of quality local food supplies, increasing costs for staff and a continued decline in the number of schools contracting with the Council.  With the continued roll out of academisation, it was anticipated that the number of schools contracting with the Council will continue to reduce over the coming years.

In response to the challenges faced by OECS, the Association for Public Service Excellence, (APSE), were commissioned to undertake an evidence based independent review. The report highlighted several options which the Cabinet were requested to consider. 

OECS was the in-house school catering function that provides school meals:  this is not a statutory function of the Council and schools have been opting to use various alternative services for several years now.   

OECS provides approximately 7,700 meals per day and employs 199 catering staff. There are 87 Primary School in the Oldham Borough, however OECS only provides catering services for 46 of those: the remaining schools which are not supported by OECS use established providers within the school meals market or operate a successful in-house catering service.  It is anticipated that the number of schools contracting with the Council will reduce in the coming years due to private companies offering schools a competitively priced service, and because of new business decisions as schools were ‘academised’.

The independent APSE review had identified a number of service areas which required substantial investment whilst recognising this could take a considerable period of time to complete.  However, even with this investment, the report cautioned that whilst this provides an opportunity for the service to balance costs versus budget, this would not be guaranteed.  The report therefore concluded that the current delivery model was not sustainable and that transitioning the service back to schools would provide a number of benefits including local decision making for schools, (for example menu choices), and increased integration of the catering function with other school services, whilst protecting local jobs and allowing a continuity of service within schools.

Options/Alternatives Considered:

The options were detailed in the confidential report.

Resolved:

That the Cabinet will consider the confidential recommendations in the report at agenda item 16.