Free school meals firm offers very different food at private schools

Chartwells UK’s parcels were called ‘not good enough’ (Picture: @erika_rushton/@lordpasola)

A catering firm accused of providing woefully inadequate free school meal parcels to impoverished families supplies canapés, pâtisserie treats and gingerbread villages to private schools.

Taxpayer funded packages supplied by Chartwells UK are supposed to be worth £30 and last 10 days, but frustrated parents have shared photos of meagre offerings worth closer to £5 if they had shopped at Asda.

The firm said it will investigate the images circulating social media, saying the amount of food in them did not ‘reflect the specification of one of our hampers’.

But its sister company, Chartwells Independent, offers luxurious gourmet food for private schools, including a selection of canapés for Norwich School, coconut, lemongrass and banana leaf wrapped salmon for New Hall school and bouiliabasse at Chigwell School.

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While these meals will be covered by the fees paid by parents, Cosmopolitan UK journalist Kate Pasola tweeted that ‘Chartwells UK belongs to a parent group which can choose where it profits’.

Chartwells is part of the food service giant Compass Group. The group’s chairman, Paul Walsh, was a former member of David Cameron’s business advisory group.

A canapés table provided to Norwich School by Chartwells Independent (Picture: @lordpasola) A frustrated mum said this would cost £5.22 at Asda, not £30 (Picture: @erika_rushton)

Food parcels have been brought in to replace £30 vouchers given to parents to spend in supermarkets as schools close for remote learning.

Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, who campaigned for free school meals to continue throughout the summer and winter holidays, called the current parcels ‘not good enough’ and said the nation’s children ‘deserve better’.

In government guidance for the free school meals scheme, schools can apply for an additional £3.50 per pupil, on top of whatever support they were already receiving.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education also said they would be looking into the situation.

They added: ‘We have clear guidelines and standards for food parcels, which we expect to be followed. Parcels should be nutritious and contain a varied range of food.’

Metro.co.uk has contacted Chartwells Independent for comment.

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