Free School Meals

[EverReady]

This Marcus fella seems quite sensible. I wonder should we open negotiations with him.

[YOYO]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

[bimboman]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.

The school food delivery is organised locally and not by the government, it’s good that there’s a focus on it though.

It’s a good day in a democracy when things like this happen.

[backrow]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

He’s actually a self serving dickhead who doesn’t put any of his own money into what he preaches , he’s a figurehead led by a team of Don King types. Utter plum, and a complete contrast to Harry Kane who is a gent and very professional , if notnexactly Einstein.

[YOYO]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.

The school food delivery is organised locally and not by the government, it’s good that there’s a focus on it though.

It’s a good day in a democracy when things like this happen.

But doesn’t the government fund this? Is it a case that local authorities are keeping a big portion of the £30 per head? Food boxes worth £5 seems a total pisstake. It’s almost as if the people running this scheme has contempt for the lower classes, the people who are unable to feed their kids themselves.

[backrow]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.

The school food delivery is organised locally and not by the government, it’s good that there’s a focus on it though.

It’s a good day in a democracy when things like this happen.

But doesn’t the government fund this? Is it a case that local authorities are keeping a big portion of the £30 per head? Food boxes worth £5 seems a total pisstake. It’s almost as if the people running this scheme has contempt for the lower classes, the people who are unable to feed their kids themselves.

It’s likely that as with most things to do with local authorities and current govt actions, the person in charge was inept - it’s never anyone’s actually money, just the public purse, so no thought or care or check for anything resembling value for money took place.
Woeful skills and acumen is why I’d rather there be a few benefits as possible, because the public sector is awful at organising anything

I don’t think it was some Tory machievellian plot to keep the poor starving or rip people off at £25 a time, just ineptitude and lack of care or thought at a time when there are other more pressing matters with covid and brexit than some footballers vanity project

[bimboman]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.

The school food delivery is organised locally and not by the government, it’s good that there’s a focus on it though.

It’s a good day in a democracy when things like this happen.

But doesn’t the government fund this? Is it a case that local authorities are keeping a big portion of the £30 per head? Food boxes worth £5 seems a total pisstake. It’s almost as if the people running this scheme has contempt for the lower classes, the people who are unable to feed their kids themselves.

The funding comes from central Government to local Government and schools, the company providing the crap are employed locally and nothing to do with the Government.

“Scheme” ? The local council and schools or the companies employed.?

[danny_fitz]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

In fairness, today of all days is probably not the best for the Irish to be lecturing the British government on how to look after kids.

[SaintK]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.

The school food delivery is organised locally and not by the government, it’s good that there’s a focus on it though.

It’s a good day in a democracy when things like this happen.

But doesn’t the government fund this? Is it a case that local authorities are keeping a big portion of the £30 per head? Food boxes worth £5 seems a total pisstake. It’s almost as if the people running this scheme has contempt for the lower classes, the people who are unable to feed their kids themselves.

The funding comes from central Government to local Government and schools, the company providing the crap are employed locally and nothing to do with the Government.

“Scheme” ? The local council and schools or the companies employed.?

Though of course Compass and Chartwell have been awarded £millions in contracts and are the preferred supplier for school meals

The food catering giant and its subsidiary have been awarded almost £350m in school meal catering contracts since 2016, according to analysts at Tussell. The public procurement experts said Compass and Chartwells remain the biggest providers of school meals in the UK.

[backrow]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

In fairness, today of all days is probably not the best for the Irish to be lecturing the British government on how to look after kids.

Why ? Has there been another bumming in the news ?

[SaintK]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

In fairness, today of all days is probably not the best for the Irish to be lecturing the British government on how to look after kids.

Why ? Has there been another bumming in the news ?

fudge ing hilarious you arse

[bimboman]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.

The school food delivery is organised locally and not by the government, it’s good that there’s a focus on it though.

It’s a good day in a democracy when things like this happen.

But doesn’t the government fund this? Is it a case that local authorities are keeping a big portion of the £30 per head? Food boxes worth £5 seems a total pisstake. It’s almost as if the people running this scheme has contempt for the lower classes, the people who are unable to feed their kids themselves.

The funding comes from central Government to local Government and schools, the company providing the crap are employed locally and nothing to do with the Government.

“Scheme” ? The local council and schools or the companies employed.?

Though of course Compass and Chartwell have been awarded £millions in contracts and are the preferred supplier for school meals

The food catering giant and its subsidiary have been awarded almost £350m in school meal catering contracts since 2016, according to analysts at Tussell. The public procurement experts said Compass and Chartwells remain the biggest providers of school meals in the UK.

They’re not government contracts either,

[backrow]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

In fairness, today of all days is probably not the best for the Irish to be lecturing the British government on how to look after kids.

Why ? Has there been another bumming in the news ?

fudge ing hilarious you arse

This forum is obsessed with arses !

[SaintK]

The school food delivery is organised locally and not by the government, it’s good that there’s a focus on it though.

It’s a good day in a democracy when things like this happen.

But doesn’t the government fund this? Is it a case that local authorities are keeping a big portion of the £30 per head? Food boxes worth £5 seems a total pisstake. It’s almost as if the people running this scheme has contempt for the lower classes, the people who are unable to feed their kids themselves.

The funding comes from central Government to local Government and schools, the company providing the crap are employed locally and nothing to do with the Government.

“Scheme” ? The local council and schools or the companies employed.?

Though of course Compass and Chartwell have been awarded £millions in contracts and are the preferred supplier for school meals

The food catering giant and its subsidiary have been awarded almost £350m in school meal catering contracts since 2016, according to analysts at Tussell. The public procurement experts said Compass and Chartwells remain the biggest providers of school meals in the UK.

They’re not government contracts either,

Who's are they and where does the money come from then?

[SaintK]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

In fairness, today of all days is probably not the best for the Irish to be lecturing the British government on how to look after kids.

Why ? Has there been another bumming in the news ?

fudge ing hilarious you arse

This forum is obsessed with arses !

Sorry, I meant classless twat

[bimboman]

But doesn’t the government fund this? Is it a case that local authorities are keeping a big portion of the £30 per head? Food boxes worth £5 seems a total pisstake. It’s almost as if the people running this scheme has contempt for the lower classes, the people who are unable to feed their kids themselves.

The funding comes from central Government to local Government and schools, the company providing the crap are employed locally and nothing to do with the Government.

“Scheme” ? The local council and schools or the companies employed.?

Though of course Compass and Chartwell have been awarded £millions in contracts and are the preferred supplier for school meals

The food catering giant and its subsidiary have been awarded almost £350m in school meal catering contracts since 2016, according to analysts at Tussell. The public procurement experts said Compass and Chartwells remain the biggest providers of school meals in the UK.

They’re not government contracts either,

Who's are they and where does the money come from then?

Schools and local authorities, the money comes from the tax payer as does every penny spent by the state in the UK.

[SaintK]

The funding comes from central Government to local Government and schools, the company providing the crap are employed locally and nothing to do with the Government.

“Scheme” ? The local council and schools or the companies employed.?

Though of course Compass and Chartwell have been awarded £millions in contracts and are the preferred supplier for school meals

The food catering giant and its subsidiary have been awarded almost £350m in school meal catering contracts since 2016, according to analysts at Tussell. The public procurement experts said Compass and Chartwells remain the biggest providers of school meals in the UK.

They’re not government contracts either,

Who's are they and where does the money come from then?

Schools and local authorities, the money comes from the tax payer as does every penny spent by the state in the UK.

Thanks, I really didn't realise it was taxpayers money!
So the funding to schools and LEA's is from the treasury?

[backrow]

In fairness, today of all days is probably not the best for the Irish to be lecturing the British government on how to look after kids.

Why ? Has there been another bumming in the news ?

fudge ing hilarious you arse

This forum is obsessed with arses !

Sorry, I meant classless twat

Hey I’m mega classy - I’m not the one burying 800 kiddie corpses under the hurling pitch

[bimboman]

Though of course Compass and Chartwell have been awarded £millions in contracts and are the preferred supplier for school meals

They’re not government contracts either,

Who's are they and where does the money come from then?

Schools and local authorities, the money comes from the tax payer as does every penny spent by the state in the UK.

Thanks, I really didn't realise it was taxpayers money!
So the funding to schools and LEA's is from the treasury?

For this yes. If you’re going to suggest that abdicates local responsibilities then that’s a bit of an odd take on what responsibilities actually are.

It’s a decent demonstration of the state being shit at stuff though I’ll agree with that.

[YOYO]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

In fairness, today of all days is probably not the best for the Irish to be lecturing the British government on how to look after kids.

Well our government of today is at least taking full accountability for its role in an atrocity that dates back a long time ago. The speeches from our Taoiseach / PM both yesterday and today in response to the report findings were excellent. A leader showing how to lead. Night and day compared to loopy Boris.

[YOYO]

Don’t shoot me down. I occasionally listen to LBC UK radio in the morning (over the net), hence why I’m a little informed on bigger news across the water. Granted, I find I can’t listen for much more than an hour as JOB can be hard on the ears!

Currently listening to FOX News radio. I even give TalkRADIO a whirl.

[inactionman]

Christ, this last page has been a painful read. Not least that kids are going to go hungry - you can almost smell the burning of the polyester chinos as the usual clowns rub their thighs with delight at this whole fiasco.

As some respite, they're supposed to be replacing Chartwell's hapless effort with food vouchers as of next week - I understand why government was keen to encourage food parcels instead of vouchers, but this hasn't worked. Expect plenty of admin cock-ups, but I'd rather this than the f**king insult of a food box some families have received.

It's one thing ripping off taxpayers, another to screw over hungry kids. Well pissed off over this.

[Leinster in London]

How much of this is the fault of puritans who block giving the parent a voucher for £30 that is redeemable in any supermarket. They leave the councils no choice but to find providers of hampers that contain food, and definitely no booze or ciggies?
It's just unfortunate the cost of the parcel is £30 instead of the £5 cost of the food inside it.

Private enterprise is of course ok for them, and close your eyes to the increase of the "hookers & coke" business.

[bimboman]

How much of this is the fault of puritans who block giving the parent a voucher for £30 that is redeemable in any supermarket. They leave the councils no choice but to find providers of hampers that contain food, and definitely no booze or ciggies?
It's just unfortunate the cost of the parcel is £30 instead of the £5 cost of the food inside it.

Private enterprise is of course ok for them, and close your eyes to the increase of the "hookers & coke" business.

Damn those “puritans “ demanding the children’s food money is spent on actual food.

[inactionman]

How much of this is the fault of puritans who block giving the parent a voucher for £30 that is redeemable in any supermarket. They leave the councils no choice but to find providers of hampers that contain food, and definitely no booze or ciggies?
It's just unfortunate the cost of the parcel is £30 instead of the £5 cost of the food inside it.

Private enterprise is of course ok for them, and close your eyes to the increase of the "hookers & coke" business.

I can't believe it's beyond the wit of man to devise a voucher scheme that can only be applied to certain categories of grocery to avoid feckless parents buying lottery tickets with it, but I do get why some might see a food box to be preferable. Surely - and this might just be me being mad - the box providers get the ingredients at trade/cost or at least at significant discount and can do an order of scale better than what we're seeing.

The problem remains that it ain't worked, and I've no confidence it'll be made to work, so bin it.

[Gospel]

How much of this is the fault of puritans who block giving the parent a voucher for £30 that is redeemable in any supermarket. They leave the councils no choice but to find providers of hampers that contain food, and definitely no booze or ciggies?
It's just unfortunate the cost of the parcel is £30 instead of the £5 cost of the food inside it.

Private enterprise is of course ok for them, and close your eyes to the increase of the "hookers & coke" business.

According to Chartwells CEO it was 5 days of school meals and the charge was £10.50 and not £30.

[danny_fitz]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

In fairness, today of all days is probably not the best for the Irish to be lecturing the British government on how to look after kids.

Well our government of today is at least taking full accountability for its role in an atrocity that dates back a long time ago. The speeches from our Taoiseach / PM both yesterday and today in response to the report findings were excellent. A leader showing how to lead. Night and day compared to loopy Boris.

I agree in part with your post but ultimately all these apologies/reports/accountability have taken decades to be dragged out of both the state and the church after endless campaigning. Most victims did not live to see justice and were instead smeared, called out as liars and treated like a dirty secret. Great that the Taoiseach today is doing the right thing, they should have been taking responsibility 30 years ago.

[SaintK]

They’re not government contracts either,

Who's are they and where does the money come from then?

Schools and local authorities, the money comes from the tax payer as does every penny spent by the state in the UK.

Thanks, I really didn't realise it was taxpayers money!
So the funding to schools and LEA's is from the treasury?

For this yes. If you’re going to suggest that abdicates local responsibilities then that’s a bit of an odd take on what responsibilities actually are.

It’s a decent demonstration of the state being shit at stuff though I’ll agree with that.

Thanks
I'm not going to suggest anything. It was a geniune question.

[Leinster in London]

How much of this is the fault of puritans who block giving the parent a voucher for £30 that is redeemable in any supermarket. They leave the councils no choice but to find providers of hampers that contain food, and definitely no booze or ciggies?
It's just unfortunate the cost of the parcel is £30 instead of the £5 cost of the food inside it.

Private enterprise is of course ok for them, and close your eyes to the increase of the "hookers & coke" business.

According to Chartwells CEO it was 5 days of school meals and the charge was £10.50 and not £30.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13727203/ ... ool-meals/

So according to The Scum (spit),

Elaine Stacey, 41, from Reading, was given a food parcel "worth £3" containing a loaf of bread, weighed-out pasta in a sandwich bag, three jelly pots and a jar of Dolmio sauce to feed her 17-year-old son for one week.

More seriously though, much much more seriously, Why didn't it cost £15?

[Gospel]

More seriously though, much much more seriously, Why didn't it cost £15?

I would imagine that would be because there is a cost for the food plus the packaging and then the distribution. I am not up to speed with all this - but what was wrong with food vouchers?

[Leinster in London]

More seriously though, much much more seriously, Why didn't it cost £15?

I would imagine that would be because there is a cost for the food plus the packaging and then the distribution. I am not up to speed with all this - but what was wrong with food vouchers?

the link I provided shows the overheads were included in the £10.50.

"For clarity this shows five days of free school lunches (not ten days) and the charge for food, packing and distribution was actually £10.50 and not £30 as suggested.

"However, in our efforts to provide thousands of food parcels a week at extremely short notice we are very sorry the quantity has fallen short in this instance."

There are still questions to be answered.

[Gospel]

More seriously though, much much more seriously, Why didn't it cost £15?

I would imagine that would be because there is a cost for the food plus the packaging and then the distribution. I am not up to speed with all this - but what was wrong with food vouchers?

the link I provided shows the overheads were included in the £10.50.

"For clarity this shows five days of free school lunches (not ten days) and the charge for food, packing and distribution was actually £10.50 and not £30 as suggested.

"However, in our efforts to provide thousands of food parcels a week at extremely short notice we are very sorry the quantity has fallen short in this instance."

There are still questions to be answered.

This is why I don't understand the Rashford haters. He's doing good-work regardless.

[bimboman]

There’s lots of questions to be answered from the company providing and being paid for a service that they’re failing at.

[RodneyRegis]

The media/twitter etc has quickly suggested that these meal parcels are supposed to feed a child for a week, rather than compensate the parent for 5 school meals. They've also assumed that 5 meal parcels are supposed to over 10 meals.

It's unfortunate, because it distracts from the main point, which is that the contractors are clearly sending crap food to lower value than they should.

Twitter is further messing things up by suggesting that they should be sent food which matches kids' fads, which is of course not done with school meals.

They've also tried to suggest that the move from vouchers is because Tories think the vouchers go to crack dens, which seems to be based on misapprehension (possibly delieberate) from some spurious tweet.

It does seem it would be easier to just give vouchers which are usable for food only. I believe this option is available and it's up to the school to decide.

[YOYO]

There’s lots of questions to be answered from the company providing and being paid for a service that they’re failing at.

I imagine the cynical will assume the company is linked to the Tory party, or someone potentially in government indirectly benefitting financially.

[bimboman]

There’s lots of questions to be answered from the company providing and being paid for a service that they’re failing at.

I imagine the cynical will assume the company is linked to the Tory party, or someone potentially in government indirectly benefitting financially.

That wouldn’t make any sense as neither the Government nor the Tory party hire them. This has been explained previously yo-yo.

[YOYO]

It’s not a good day good when a celebrity footballer (and nice bloke) Marcus Rashfold has to rebuke the British government on their rubbish attempts to feed the impoverished children, thus focusing them to get serious and take responsibility.
Boris’s government abdicating responsibility once again.

In fairness, today of all days is probably not the best for the Irish to be lecturing the British government on how to look after kids.

Well our government of today is at least taking full accountability for its role in an atrocity that dates back a long time ago. The speeches from our Taoiseach / PM both yesterday and today in response to the report findings were excellent. A leader showing how to lead. Night and day compared to loopy Boris.

I agree in part with your post but ultimately all these apologies/reports/accountability have taken decades to be dragged out of both the state and the church after endless campaigning. Most victims did not live to see justice and were instead smeared, called out as liars and treated like a dirty secret. Great that the Taoiseach today is doing the right thing, they should have been taking responsibility 30 years ago.

It was unbelievable Danny how the Catholic church behaved here during those years. The government equally culpable. The church has suffered for it big time in Ireland in attendances and status in the country. Pity the poor people that suffered during all of it.
An awful stain on our history of our state.

[grimoald]

The media/twitter etc has quickly suggested that these meal parcels are supposed to feed a child for a week, rather than compensate the parent for 5 school meals. They've also assumed that 5 meal parcels are supposed to over 10 meals.

It's unfortunate, because it distracts from the main point, which is that the contractors are clearly sending crap food to lower value than they should.

Twitter is further messing things up by suggesting that they should be sent food which matches kids' fads, which is of course not done with school meals.

They've also tried to suggest that the move from vouchers is because Tories think the vouchers go to crack dens, which seems to be based on misapprehension (possibly delieberate) from some spurious tweet.

It does seem it would be easier to just give vouchers which are usable for food only. I believe this option is available and it's up to the school to decide.

Think the tweet is pretty clear


But anyway, even if this is a shit private company being paid to do a shit job, it is indicative of a lot of the failings of Government (and this Government in particular).

I understand people who want a small and efficient government with unnecessary waste, but when you reduce it's capability to the point the UK is in currently, it can't then effectively scale up and meet new/urgent demands. That means you need to pay huge short-term contracts to consultants and other private businesses.

The Civil service had shrunk by 20% between 2009 and 2016. It has since grown again (so now only 10% smaller than 2009), but with everyone coming in doing Brexit work - and more recently Covid work. The shinkages were also seen in NGOs and agencies. That just creates capacity/capability problems.

Though then there are your archetypal philosophical distinctions. One wing generally believe you have worse outcomes if you try and completely eliminate waste and abuse as it fucks up incentives and leads to 'worse' outcomes, the other side think some element of abuse/waste is worth outcomes that are broadly 'better' for everyone.

[bimboman]

There’s no evidence that more civil servants in central government would have improved local council and school decisions and contracts in any way.

[RodneyRegis]

The media/twitter etc has quickly suggested that these meal parcels are supposed to feed a child for a week, rather than compensate the parent for 5 school meals. They've also assumed that 5 meal parcels are supposed to over 10 meals.

It's unfortunate, because it distracts from the main point, which is that the contractors are clearly sending crap food to lower value than they should.

Twitter is further messing things up by suggesting that they should be sent food which matches kids' fads, which is of course not done with school meals.

They've also tried to suggest that the move from vouchers is because Tories think the vouchers go to crack dens, which seems to be based on misapprehension (possibly deliberate) from some spurious tweet.

It does seem it would be easier to just give vouchers which are usable for food only. I believe this option is available and it's up to the school to decide.

Think the tweet is pretty clear


But anyway, even if this is a shit private company being paid to do a shit job, it is indicative of a lot of the failings of Government (and this Government in particular).

I understand people who want a small and efficient government with unnecessary waste, but when you reduce it's capability to the point the UK is in currently, it can't then effectively scale up and meet new/urgent demands. That means you need to pay huge short-term contracts to consultants and other private businesses.

The Civil service had shrunk by 20% between 2009 and 2016. It has since grown again (so now only 10% smaller than 2009), but with everyone coming in doing Brexit work - and more recently Covid work. The shinkages were also seen in NGOs and agencies. That just creates capacity/capability problems.

Though then there are your archetypal philosophical distinctions. One wing generally believe you have worse outcomes if you try and completely eliminate waste and abuse as it fucks up incentives and leads to 'worse' outcomes, the other side think some element of abuse/waste is worth outcomes that are broadly 'better' for everyone.

I don't think anyone would deny that the value taxpayers have got from decades of government of either colour has been a disgrace. Whether due to incompetence or corruption is another argument.

Whatever you think of the tweet, if you think the parcels were brought in to stop them being exchanged for drugs, or that the "Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Youth" has anyhting to do with policy, then I've a bridge here.