Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George, has accused Powys County Council of having its ‘head in the sand’ regarding the provision of school meal portions, after its leader said no one had raised concerns.
Mr George made the comments following a raft of letters and emails he received from teachers, parents and governors across the county after directly intervening on the issue. The majority that responded to the AM's call for additional views and evidence, all expressed their dissatisfaction with the provision of portion sizes and were dismayed that 'seconds' had been banned in their respective primary schools. Many stated that they had previously written to the Council raising their concerns but had received no reply.
However, in a letter to Mr George at the end of October, the Leader of Powys Council, Cllr David Jones, expressed his surprise about the attention the issue had received as the Council had received no correspondence at all from parents, governors or teachers.
Commenting, Mr George said:
“The correspondence I have been sent clearly show there has been a long standing problem over primary school meal provision but it seems Powys Council has stuck its head in the sand, choosing to ignore these concerns and hoping that they would go away.
“One parent that contacted me stated that several emails were sent to the Council’s Catering Manager over the past 6 months relating to her discontent with the size of school meal portions, which was long before my involvement in this matter.
“I also have other governors showing me copies of the letters they sent to the Council, which were all ignored by officials.
“It therefore begs the question whether Cllr Jones was properly informed about the problems that were being raised with council staff.
“If the content of his letter to me was as a result of information being supplied to him by officers of the council, then he has a duty to investigate the circumstances as to why such inaccurate information was provided.
“As a result of my investigations, I have deep-seat reservations about the competence of the Council’s Catering Department.
"School cooks and canteen staff are doing a great job; I believe they know what is best for children, not officials at County Hall.
“I hope Cllr Jones properly reflects on this issue and takes appropriate action.”