FCSI Professional Members making a real difference to families in Tower Hamlets, South London

In an area of deprivation, free school meals are a lifeline for many families. Tower Hamlets Council has taken strong action across the borough’s 25 secondary schools to address this, offering all 11-16 year old pupils access to a free lunch.

Getting the right people on board

This major initiative needed considerable expertise and ability to deliver. Tower Hamlets approached FCSI Professional Member Glenn Campbell of Cohesion Consulting to develop a research methodology and implementation schedule for the project. Glenn was delighted to support Tower Hamlets Council deliver the project by September 2023 and enlisted the help of fellow FCSI Member Aidan Ross.

Jenny Pittam, Head of Contract Services led the Project Board and Glenn and Aidan worked closely with her and many colleagues in the multi-disciplinary project team.

From the outset, Glenn and Aidan were aware that the council’s previous experience in projects of this scale was limited to primary schools. As experts in the secondary school sector, they helped the Project Team navigate its complex stakeholder and operating environment, to ensure the delivery of a bespoke and best value catering solution.

Identifying the starting point

They conducted a feasibility study evaluating 20 school kitchens in Tower Hamlets, looking at their capacity, service style and creating a gap analysis on catering equipment, till points and staffing levels.

At the same time, we conducted deep dives into each catering operation by:

• analysing sales data in each school and illustrating buying behaviours
• evaluating free school meals uptake in each school
• evaluating School Food Standards compliance

Their findings were included in the Board Report with costed recommendations that would optimise the uptake of free school meals.

Finding the gaps

During their research they discovered that from 20,000 students, free school meals eligibility was 50%. Of that 50%, only 50% were taking their free school meal allowance regularly. Cohesion’s findings have led to a further research project to understand why the uptake is so low.

Creating the way forward

The solutions Cohesion  proposed were:

• £722k of equipment purchased and installed in 16 schools
• £450k of labour costs to be included in the budget models for each school
• a contract review and addendum process for outsourced services to include the conditions of grant for the project funding
• a wider engagement plan for Headteachers, Business Managers and Chefs across the Borough to ensure full alignment and support with the project moving forward.

Outcome and impact

The whole project took 9 months to deliver from start to finish and resulted in a successful launch of the project on time and on budget.

Glenn and Aidan are now supporting Tower Hamlets schools through 2024 to build momentum and increase uptake with the new, compliant food offer.

The project has been recognised nationally by https://apse.org.uk – the association of Public Service Excellence. At the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Excellence in School Food Awards dinner on Thursday 25th January, Sharon Hodgson – MP for Washington & Sunderland West, announced Tower Hamlets Council were winners of  the Best Group Award.