ASCL responds to PAC report on free school meals voucher scheme

Responding to the report of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on the national food voucher scheme, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“The launch of the Edenred national food voucher scheme at the outset of the pandemic was an absolute shambles and it put schools under huge additional pressure at what was already an incredibly difficult time.

“It adds insult to injury to see the damning conclusion of this report that the Department for Education apparently missed potential opportunities to renegotiate the contract and reduce costs, and that it seems to have been pretty complacent on this front.

“The DfE is constantly lecturing schools about the importance of running efficiently and saving costs wherever possible, but appears not to have brought the same rigour to bear on its own management of this scheme.”