As Wales prepares to roll out universal free school meals to primary school children next term, the offer varies in different areas as does the cost of meals for those who still have to pay. Primary school meal prices vary by as much as 50p in different parts of Wales from £2.10 to £2.60. Secondary prices range by 70p from to £2.35 to £3.05.
And councils warn the soaring cost of food will pile pressure on school meal budgets. Torfaen confirmed it is looking at alternative products and suppliers while Flintshire Council said: "We have had to reduce some options on the menus and may have to reduce them further if the cost of provisions continue to rise."
The Welsh Government has allocated grants of £40m in 2022/23, £70m in 2023/24 and £90m in 2024/25 to pay for universal free school meals for primary pupils - but some councils are worried they will have to foot the bill after that.
Read more: Children eligible for free school meals will get provision in the summer holidays
The offer starts with reception pupils next term before extending to children in years one and two by April 2023. But some councils have confirmed they are ready to add years one and two from next term or January - so families in those areas will benefit . You can read which councils are expanding the offer early here.
A lot depends on how ready school kitchens are to increase the number of children being fed and whether there are enough staff to deliver all the extra meals. Some school kitchens have not returned to serving hot meals since pandemic closures in April 2020 - Cardiff, is among those where not all school kitchens are serving hot food.
Some local councils are also worried about how the offer will be paid for after 2025 as well as getting ready for next term. At a meeting of Conwy Council cabinet in March Independent councillor Julie Fallon warned: "In the financial year 2025/26 and beyond, it’s anticipated the offer of a school free meal will continue, but it’s expected this funding will be part of the rates support grant, so there’s some concern around this funding."
Whether or not local education authorities can bring the offer to years one and two early depends on readiness, not money. The Welsh Government's pot will cover any council ready to also offer year ones and twos free school meals earlier than its target date of April 2023.
But there are logistical issues with local education authorities needing equipment, staff and maintenance work ready to provide more meals to more children. And beyond the universal offer for the youngest children, the cost of living crisis has seen a leap in those of all ages becoming eligible for free school meals, meaning school canteens are busier than ever and the overall cost is more.
More than one in four children in Wales now live in families on incomes low enough to qualify for free school meals. Of the 380,139 pupils aged five to 15 in Wales 26.9% are eligible for free school meals or transitionally protected to receive them until the end of the rollout of Universal Credit in December 2023.
Councils around Wales are now all trying to upgrade kitchens, buy equipment and find staff to provide more school meals next term all at the same time. A spokesperson for Wales' largest education authority, Cardiff, said: "In Cardiff the majority of reception children will be offered free school meals from the new autumn term onwards and work is being carried out in many of the city’s primary schools so that kitchens are able to cater for a significantly greater number of pupils."
This is what each council charges for school meals and how many of their children are eligible for free school meals:
Bridgend
School meal prices:
Primary = £2.20 (no increase since 2018)
Secondary = £2.50 (no increase since 2018)
Bridgend estimates it spent just over £445,000 providing free school meals in 2021-22. 6,054 pupils (26%) are eligible for free school meals.
Two in 10 children overall buy school meals which are provided by a non-profit in house local authority catering. The most popular bought school meal is meatballs in tomato sauce with pasta.
Blaenau Gwent
School meal prices:
Primary - £2.40
Secondary - £2.65.
1,847 (23%) of pupils are eligible for free school meals.
Two in 10 primary pupils and one in three secondary pupils pay for school meals each day. School catering is provided by the local authority with the exception of two secondary schools which are provided for in-house.
The most popular bought meal is pizza & chips and roast dinner in primaries and quorn dippers, chips, curry and roast dinner in secondary.
Caerphilly
School meal prices:
Primary £2.10 (risen 10p since 2018)
Secondary £2.35 ( risen 10p since 2018)
7,201 pupils (31%) are eligible for free school meals. 2,811 primary pupils (17.6%) and around 18% of secondary pupils buy school meals.
There there are 11 secondary schools in Caerphilly. The LEA provides in-house catering for nine of those so all figures for secondary are for those nine schools only. Roast lunch is the most popular school meal bought.
The council said in a Freedom of Information response: “Due to Covid and schools being closed / pupils isolating the service has not operated fully since 2019. In general profit is not made on paid school meals
“Increased food costs will put pressure on budgets. Reports will be given to elected members and the service area will be led by their decisions.”
Conwy
School meal prices:
Infants £2.85
Junior £2.85
Secondary £2.90
2,936 (18%) of pupils are eligible for free school meals (not including those transitionally protected)
23.6% of primary pupils buy school meals but there is no data available for secondary pupils
The total projected costs for the end of 2021-22 financial year to provide all school meals in all primary schools, Special School and 1 secondary provided by the LEA is £2.758m
Meals are provided by an in house catering service in primaries, one secondary and special provision. Foundation secondary schools get delegated funding and have opted for contracted out provider Shire Catering, PFI secondary schools use contractor Sodexo.
Denbighshire
School meal prices:
Primary £2.45
Secondary £2.60 .
25.5% (4,080) children are eligible for free school meals. 57% of all pupils buy school meals - 3,600 in primaries (44%) and 5,100 in secondaries (70.6%) Catering is provided by the LEA in house and is non profit
Rhondda Cynon Taf
School meal prices:
Primary £2.55
Secondary £2.80
Prices for both have risen by 5p since 2018-19.
In 2018 – 2019 primary meals were £2.50 and secondary £2.75.
A total 8,457 children (21.8%) are eligible for free school meals. Nearly 20% of primary pupils (4,434) buy school meals. More than 37% of secondary pupils buy school meals (6,209). 27.3% of all pupils (10,643) buy paid for school meals. RCT Catering Services provides an in house service to all schools.
The council spent £3.786M providing free school meals last year. No profit is made. Roast dinner is popular in all schools.
There are “no plans at present” to cost cut to cover increases in prices
Newport
School meal prices:
Primary £2.15
Secondary £2.40
Prices have been the same since 1st September 2018. More than 7,000 children (30%) are eligible for free school meals. Two in 10 primary pupils and more than one in four secondary pupils buy school meals. The catering service is contracted out to Chartwells.
The most popular bought school meals are pizza, roast dinner and fish and chips.
Pembrokeshire
School meal prices:
Primary Infant £2.55
Primary Junior £2.65
Secondary £2.70
All have risen 10p since 2019 and 20p since 2018
3,857 pupils (23%) are eligible for free school meals. . 44% of all school age children (7,447) buy school meals 42% of primary pupils (4,348) buy school meals and 46% of secondary pupils (3099) buy school meals.
An in house catering service runs school meals. No profit is made. The most popular bought meal is Pizza and chips.
Neath Port Talbot
School meal prices:
Primary - £2.35 (this has risen 5p since 2018)
Secondary – cost per meals decided by each individual school
24.87% (5,299) of the whole school population is eligible for free meals.
27.64% (4, 821) of statutory age pupils are eligible for free meals.
35% of primary pupils buy school meals
Kitchens at all-through schools are not run by the local education authority
The cost to provide free school meals based on direct costs (salary and food costs) - £1m. The council said no cost cutting is planned despite prices going up
Pizza and fish and chips are the most popular school meals bought by primary pupils.
Ceredigion
School meal prices:
Primary and secondary £2.50
1,798 (19.2%) children are eligible for free school meals b are
Between 40% - 50% of pupils buy school meals in primaries.
The Secondary schools manage their own canteens and the local education authority said it could not provide information on their behalf. Most popular bought school meals are meat balls and pasta and roast dinner
Flintshire
School meal prices:
Primary and secondary £2.50 this has risen by 20p since 2021 and by 35p since 2018
4,511 of pupils (21.3%) are eligible for free school meals. 3,204 primary pupils (36.3%) buy school meals and 4,442 secondary pupils (56.8%) buy school meals. 7,646 (45.9%) of all pupils buy school meals.
School meals are run by Newydd Catering & Cleaning LTD, a wholly owned LATC of Flintshire County Council. LATCs are companies which can be set up by councils to offer services on a commercial basis. Roast dinners and chips on Friday are the most popular bought meals.
On cost the council said: "We have worked closely with our suppliers to ensure we can provide a nutritionally balanced menu within the restraints of the income available. We have had to reduce some options on the menus and may have to reduce them further if the cost of provisions continue to rise."
Swansea
School meal prices:
Primary and secondary £2.40 (a 10p rise since September 2018)
4,576 (25%) of primary pupils, 2.998 (20.78%) of secondary pupils and 91 (42.92%) of special school pupils are eligible for free school meals.
The council provides school meals for all primary and special schools and 12 of the 14 comprehensive schools. The two schools that have not bought into the local authority’s catering in house are Olchfa School and Morriston Comprehensive.
The cost of providing free school meals in 2021/22 was £1.9m for primaries and £841,181 for secondaries.
Swansea Council said: “No profit is made at the current cost of £2.40 per School Meal is not sufficient for full cost recovery of the Catering Service. The catering department will strive to deliver a quality meal with the finances available.”
Fish fingers or cheese wrap with chipped potatoes are the most popular bought meals.
Carmartheshire
School meal prices:
Primary and Secondary - £2.60 (a 5p rise on 2020 and 10p rise since 2018)
6,074 (22%) of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Around 45% of primary pupils and around 51% of secondary pupils buy school meals. School meals are run by the local education authority. No profit is made.
Merthyr
School meal prices:
Primary £2.30 ( 30p rise since 2018)
Secondary £2.70 (30p rise since 2018)
Prices were raised in 2019 to £2.30 and £2.70 and have remained the same since)
20% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.
The LEA spent £1.486m providing free school meals in 2021-22. The in-house catering service is non-profit making and breaks even. The most popular bought meal is crispy chicken in a bun with curly fries, coleslaw and salad.
Anglesey
School meal prices:
Primary £2.20
Secondary £2.60
2,053 (24%) of primary pupils and 814 (20%) of secondary pupils are eligible for free school meals. Around one in four primary pupils buy school meals but the council could not provide data for secondaries.
The school meal service is contracted out to Chartwells. The most popular food bought is roast dinners and chips.
Torfaen
School meal prices:
Infants £2.30
Juniors £2.40
Seniors 2.60 for Seniors - all three prices have remained in place since 2017
22.43% of pupils are eligible for free school meals and about 20% of those not eligible buy school meals.
Most school meals are provided in-house by Torfaen Catering Team but two secondary schools operate their own service and one has an external provider. No profits are made.
On price rises the council said: "We are currently looking at alternative suppliers and products while ensuring we are maintaining our healthy eating agenda.
"Currently the council cabinet is underpinning the funding for grocery spend to ensure the viability of healthy school meals despite the inflationary rises caused by Brexit and Covid. The current global instability is likely to result in further pressures."
The most popular bought meal is roast dinners followed by "chip day" on Fridays.
Gwynedd
School meal prices:
Primary £2.50
Secondary prices vary
Cardiff
School meal prices:
Primary £2.60
Secondary £3.05
(prices changed in May 2021)
Monmouthshire
School meal prices:
Primary £2.50
Secondary £2.50
Vale of Glamorgan
School meal prices:
Primary £2.45
Powys
School meal prices:
Primary £2.35
Secondary £2.45
* Responses were requested under Freedom of Information but were not provided by the last five councils on the list, for which only prices are given.
The three alternative school year dates suggested for Wales
