Labour pledge to give all Croydon primary school kids free dinners

By Nikki Jarvis

nikki.jarvis@essnmedia.co.uk

Parents and children across Croydon could benefit from a generous new year's resolution made by the borough's Labour councillors.

The party has promised to provide free healthy school meals for all pupils who attend primary schools in the borough - costing around £3.5 million a year - if they win the council elections in May.

Tony Newman, leader of the opposition Labour group, said: "This is a clear pledge that will benefit all children in Croydon primary schools and improve health, behaviour and educational performance."

There are some 75 primary schools across the borough, with 20,000 children between them, and Councillor Newman thinks this new pledge would save parents £60 per month per child.

He said: "It's absolutely important for kids to get healthy meals and while Croydon has its areas of affluence there are still many parts where parents can't afford good healthy food every day and this will guarantee at least one of those a day."

The dinners will be paid for by scrapping the free newspaper the council publishes and distributes, getting rid of the council's neighbourhood enforcement officers and shutting down the council's economic development company, saving a minimum of £1.5 million.

Manju Shahul-Hameed, Labour spokeswoman for schools, said: "As a mother of two young children myself I can really appreciate the difference this could make both to the health of some of Croydon's children and the hard-pressed finances of their parents.

"We are committed to providing measures that will enable our primary school children to have a healthy lunchtime meal without their parents having to make choices based on their budget."

The pledge comes ahead of the council elections this May and if Labour wins the free school dinners will come into play by September 2011.