SCHOOL meal prices in Derbyshire are to rise from September to plug a £907,000 catering budget black hole.

Higher raw food costs are being blamed for the likely deficit and Derbyshire County Council is putting in place a series of measures to reduce expenditure.

These include increasing the cost of primary school meals by 5p to £1.85 and secondary school meals to £1.90 from September 14.

Adults, such as teachers, buying meals in school will pay £2.50 from September 14 – up from £2.35.

Other measures include changes to transporting meals, restructuring catering management and changes to menus that will save £421,000.

A further £339,000 is being pumped into the system from the grant that is given to schools to pay for free school meals.

The county council is hoping the remaining £147,000 will be funded by increasing the price of school meals.

The price increase planned by the county council means that meals in Derbyshire council-run schools will still be cheaper in Derby city schools by the end of the year.

Three rapid price rises this year – the last of which will be in November – will leave a city primary school meal costing £2.

Primary school meals cost £2 in Staffordshire, £1.90 in Nottinghamshire and £1.80 in Leicestershire, while Nottingham City Council charges £1.55.

Derby City Council also blames the price hike on the cost of food inflation which was running at 5.3% in June.

The city council's deficit was in the region of £400,000 before a 15p price rise in January 2009.

Another increase in April and the one in November are designed to reduce the deficit to £94,000 by the end of the financial year in March 2010.

Both local authorities realise they need to market school meals to parents and children to ensure the take-up remains the same, if not better.

In the past seven years, school meal prices in county primary schools have risen by 42% and in city schools a massive 54%.

In 2002, both local authorities were charging £1.30 for a primary school meal and £1.50 for a secondary school meal.

But the campaign by television chef Jamie Oliver for healthier meals led to greater costs for councils and a fall-off in pupil take-up of dinners, leading to massive pressure on budgets across the country.

A Derbyshire County Council spokesman said: "We're mindful of the impact of the recession and have carefully budgeted to keep our prices as low as possible while meeting rising costs such as increasing food prices.

"We are looking to break even and not make a profit."

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