Academies Campaigns

PRIVATISATION UPDATETHE LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION ON ACADEMIES, FREE SCHOOLS AND PRIVATISATION ISSUES FROM THE NUT’S PRIVATISATION IN EDUCATION UNITNUMBER 14, SEPTEMBER 2011ACADEMIES CAMPAIGNS ACADEMIESAcademy NumbersAs of 1 August 2011, there were a total of 1,070 open academies of which 203 academies opened under the Labour Government under the old ‘traditional’ sponsored route and 867 have opened under the Coalition Government (since Sept 2010) under both old sponsored and new ‘converter’ routes. OPEN ACADEMIES – AUGUST 2011NUT Region Sponsored Converter Converter Converter TOTAL secondary secondary primary other OPEN academies academies academies academies Yorks/Midlands 40 68 15 0 123 South West 23 109 64 3 199 South East 33 79 17 0 129 North West 35 34 8 0 77 Northern 17 25 10 1 53 Midlands 34 73 18 2 127 London 59 75 26 1 161 Eastern 33 116 38 14 201 TOTAL 274 579 196 21 1,070NOTE: The ‘converter other academies’ count includes any all age, all through, middle deemed secondary, special school academies, PRUs etc. PFI halts academy plansA Sheffield secondary school has been forced to postpone its move to academy status - because the school does not own the buildings. Three academy conversions in Northamptonshire are believed to have been delayed for the same reason. Sheffield’s Tapton School, which was rebuilt using Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding 10 years ago, was due to become an academy at the start of the term, despite opposition from teachers and parents. But following legal concerns by the school’s owner - a PFI company - and its funders Lloyds Banking Group, the plans have been put on hold. Interserve rebuilt the school in 2001 and took on a 25-year contract to manage the site. Interserve then sold thePrivatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 1 school contract on to another party, who are owned by Lloyds Banking Group. But the firm’s contract is with Sheffield Council - not Tapton School - which has given rise to the legal problems as the school tries to break from council control. Headteacher David Bowes said Tapton was one of several schools in the country that could be affected: “It could be this is not just a problem of our PFI contract, but all other PFI contracts. And it may take new government legislation to change that.” (Sheffield Star, 30.08.11)Lincolnshire opt out?Conservative controlled Lincolnshire County Council is considering a number of options for the future of its schools, one of which could see it recommending that all 360 primary, secondary, nursery and special schools opt out together to join an academy trust run by CfBT, a company that has run Lincolnshire’s school improvement services since 2002. (Education Guardian, 02.08.11)Barnsley College academy ambitionsBarnsley College in Yorkshire has written to 100 local primary and secondary schools asking them to consider joining it in an academy trust run by the college. The College argues it would be a way of safeguarding the area’s tertiary system. (TES, 26.08.11)Harris vocational academies Lord Harris of Peckham whose Harris chain runs 13 academies is in talks with the Government over plans to open a chain of small vocational academies of up to 200 students who have been excluded from mainstream schools. The schools would teach mechanics, hairdressing, plumbing and other trades and Harris hopes the first one will open in Peckham, south London in September 2012. Harris owns the Carpetright chain of shops, one of which, in Tottenham, north London was torched during August’s riots. (TES, 19.08.11)ULT ban liftedThe United Learning Trust, the largest single academy chain with 20 academies, which was banned from taking on further academy schools by the Labour Government after concerns over its poor performance, has had the ban lifted. It is due to add the Regis School in Bognor Regis to its academy portfolio in January 2012. (TES, 29.07.11)News Corp academy?New International plans to sponsor an academy in east London, either close to its Wapping plant in Tower Hamlets or in Newham. Tower Hamlets Council has confirmed it is in talks with the newspaper, an arm of Rupert Murdoch’s global media conglomerate, News Corp. News Corp is seeking to expand its activities to the education sector after acquiring US school technology firm Wireless Generation for $360 million in November 2010. Joe Klein, the former schools chief in New York joined News Corp’s education division late last year and over the summer there was controversy over the announcement that New York’s education department planned to award a $27 million contract to WirelessPrivatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 2 Generation without considering any other bids. (Education Investor, September 2011)Rupert Murdoch , the Chair and Chief Executive of News Corp received a $12.5 million cash bonus for the last financial year while his total remuneration rose 47 per cent to $33 million, according to the company’s annual statement to shareholders. James Murdoch, the company’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer got a $6 million cash bonus as part of his $18 million pay package. (Guardian, 03.08.11)AET expansion plansThe Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) which currently runs seven academies claims to be in advanced talks to take on ten new schools this term and a further 12 by September 2012. If it succeeds it could become the largest chain with 29 schools compared with current leader ULT which runs 20 schools currently. (TES, 02.09.11)Tory council’s academy funding disasterConservative-controlled Oxfordshire education bosses have warned they will be left millions of pounds out of pocket under the academy programme. In its official response to new funding proposals, education chiefs say the Government is giving too much cash to academy schools for services the cash-strapped council would still have to provide to schools, leaving a £29m deficit in its children, education and families budget, it says. Oxfordshire currently has four academies with three further school expected to convert this term. (Oxford Times, 31.08.11)DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIVIDUAL ACADEMIESSecond Oldham academy head resignsAn Oldham academy is facing the sudden loss of its second head teacher in just over two years. David Yates has resigned as principal of Waterhead Academy after less than 18 months in the post. He was appointed early last year to replace Jackie Nellis, who stepped down as principal designate for “personal and professional reasons” ten months after her appointment. The academy, run by Oldham College, replaced Breeze Hill and Counthill schools. Mr Yates resignation follows the announcement that up to a fifth of the school’s 250 staff faced redundancy following funding cuts. (Oldham Evening Chronicle, 23.08.11)Academy temperature hit 30 degreesStaff and students at Westminster Academy had to be sent home after becoming ill when temperatures hit 30 degrees and affected students’ exam performance according to papers filed at the High Court. Education Secretary Michael Gove has launched a £3 million legal case against BDP, the lead consultant on the £28 million building project. It is alleged the school’s ventilation system was faulty. (Evening Standard, 08.08.11)FREE SCHOOLSPrivatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 3 NUT victory on planning changesThe NUT can claim credit for its part in forcing the Government to back down on planning reforms that would have made it harder for councils to block free schools. A statement published on 15 August by the Secretary of State for Communities, Eric Pickles, revealed the government had backed down over its initial intention to allow schools to set up in commercial or residential properties without applying for change of planning use. The move would have significantly weakened council’s abilities to block free schools. The Union had argued in its submission to the planning consultation that such a move would undermine legitimate and necessary controls over the premises in which schools could set up. The Union’s concerns were clearly shared by others, of 192 responses, 120 were against making any changes to the existing planning framework. The new arrangements nevertheless instruct local authorities to “make full use of their planning powers to support applications” and include a “presumption” in favour of new schools. Where councils do reject free school proposals the promoters will have the right of appeal to the Communities Secretary and councils will be liable for promoters’ legal costs if their appeal is upheld. Nevertheless this is a significant victory for the NUT and other organisations that opposed the proposals. Local campaigns against free schools will be strengthened and councils will still be able to use planning grounds to reject applications for free schools.First free schools open in affluent areasTwenty four free schools have signed funding agreements and aim to open this month. They comprise 17 primary schools, five secondaries and two all-through schools. Ten are situated in or around London, a further six in other parts of southern England, three in the midlands and five in the north. They include five converting private schools, four run by academy chains and two run by private companies. The Government has set the overall budget for buildings at between £110m to £130m. Successful applicants from the 281 in the second round will be announced at the end of the month. A Guardian analysis of the catchment areas of the first 24 free schools showed they are skewed towards the middle class and that white, working-class pupils will be under-represented. The research shows that the ten minute commuting area around the first wave schools is dominated by middle-class households, undermining Government claims that they are empowering working class families. The areas have 57 per cent of better-off, educated and professional households compared with the English average of 42.8 per cent. There are also a higher-than-average proportion of Asian homeowners in the free school catchment areas – 5.3 per cent – compared with 1 per cent in England as a whole. Just 29.1per cent are categorised as ‘hard-pressed’ or of ‘moderate means’, compared with 36.9 per cent for the country as a whole. White households are under-represented; the areas are 64 per cent white compared with 87 per cent nationally.The two schools that have the most affluent catchment areas are also those with the smallest number of households. Priors free school in Warwickshire has less than 700 households within ten minutes of the school. However, of thosePrivatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 4 households, 94% are categorised as ‘wealthy achievers’ with an average household income in excess of £50,000.The 24 schools are:Aldborough E-Act Free School, LB Redbridge - Opening in a redeveloped community centre, this E-Act school says its focus will be on “raising standards and providing independent-style education for up to 420 pupils.” The school will be open from 8am-6pm, with out-of school activities provided outside the core school day and will have a four-week summer break and two half term holidays of two weeks’ duration. E-Act runs eight academies and plans to establish free schools in Ealing and Windsor & Maidenhead but has seen its proposal for a free school in Northampton rejected. E-Act is headed by Sir Bruce Liddington the former civil servant responsible for developing Labour’s academy programme. Liddington is thought to be the highest earning education professional with a salary topping £300,000 a year. All Saints junior school, Reading – An Anglican ethos school opening with just 25 pupils at a temporary home inside a church hall. It is run by CfBT, an educational trust, which runs two academies, five private schools in England and Wales and another in South Africa. It aims to open further free schools in Wokingham and Enfield. Ark Atwood primary academy, Westminster – One of two Ark free schools opening in the first tranche. It will open in temporary accommodation in part of a converted Victorian terrace just a couple of hundred metres from a local state primary, whose head teacher says she was never warned about Ark's plans. Ark sponsors 12 academies. ARK’s founding chairman is hedge-fund millionaire Arpad Busson and its board includes Lord Stanley Fink, another hedge fund millionaire who became co-treasurer of the Conservative Party in 2009. Fink is Chair of Governors at Burlington Danes Academy. The Sunday Times Rich List estimated his personal fortune at £116M. He is a major donor to the Conservative Party. Amanda Spielman Ark School’s research and development director is also a Trustee of the New Schools Network, funded by the Government to promote free schools.Ark Conway primary academy, Hammersmith & Fulham - This second Ark free school counts the son of the arts minister, Ed Vaizey, among its pupils. Its uniform policy includes ties from the age of four and blazers a year later. Its premises are in the an old library in Hemlock Road used by Wormholt Tenants and Residents’ Association which has held meetings and social events in the hall at the old library, for decades. The school plans to have up to 450 children by August 2013 and will build a pair of two-storey school buildings on the site to house them. Batley grammar school, Kirklees - A state funded grammar school until 1978 when it became a private school with fees of up to £8,800 a year. The attached junior school and sixth form remain fee-paying. As a free school it hopes to increase its pupil numbers from the current 350 to around 700. One of its Directors is a Conservative councillor in Kirklees. Neighbouring Batley Girls’ High School lost £19m when the BSF was axed. Privatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 5 Bradford science academy, Bradford - This secondary school will focus on science but says all pupils will be expected to achieve good passes in the English baccalaureate subjects. The project has been led by a local science teacher and backed by Alan Lewis CBE, Chair of the Hartley Group who made his money in the textile industry but is now mainly involved in property deals in the UK, Spain and Russia and is reportedly worth £300-£400M. The school’s brand new purpose built building is on land owned by Lewis and rented to the school on a peppercorn rent. The building is believed to have cost £17 million. The school will spend its first 18 months in a temporary building attached to a local independent school, with one year-group of 140 11-year-olds and class sizes of around 20 pupils.Bristol free school, Bristol - Set to be the largest free school in the country, it has been established by Education London, a private education company. The head teacher of a neighbouring state school has said the area already has surplus school places and is seeking judicial review of the decision to fund the free school. Clare Bradford, the chair of the Bristol Association of Secondary Head teachers and Principals, has labelled the school “socially divisive” and claims “it will end up being a middle-class school for middle-class parents”.Canary Wharf college, LB Tower Hamlets – Starting with a Reception class and planning to become an all-through school eventually, this Christian-ethos school is led by a qualified teacher, Sarah Counter, who was involved in setting up the Faraday private school in the borough. The school’s funding agreement gives it the right to limit its class sizes to 20. Discovery New School, West Sussex - A Montessori primary school with a Christian character "in the Anglican tradition" with class sizes of 16.Eden primary school, LB Haringey - A Jewish primary school in Haringey providing a grounding in Jewish culture – art, literature, history and philosophy – as well as religious studies. It is opening in temporary accommodation before moving to a building in Muswell Hill next to Fortismere School next year.Etz Chaim primary school, LB Barnet, – Another Jewish primary which has Jonathan Sacks, the chief rabbi as patron of the school’s trust. Its premises are a former garden centre and community hub used by disabled groups and hundreds of local residents signed a petition to stop the centre being sold by LB Barnet which owns the freehold. In its first year the school will offer a nursery and reception class for up to 54 children. A new class will be added each year.The Free School, Norwich, Norfolk - A primary school which will provide "wrap- around" childcare for pupils before and after the school day, from 8.15am until 5.45 pm and on Saturdays for 51 weeks a year. The school summer holiday is reduced to four weeks. Instead of three terms, the school year is split into six blocks of six weeks with a fortnight's break between each one. It is opening in a former office building in Norwich city centre and PE lessons will take place at Norwich City football ground.Privatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 6 Krishna-Avanti primary school, Leicester – a Hindu school with a school day from 8am until lunchtime. The school site, a grade II listed building, was a grammar school until 2007. The school is backed by the i-Foundation, which is behind another Hindu primary school in London and has plans to open a Hindu secondary.Langley Hall primary academy, Slough – A primary school with a Christian ethos run by the Childcare Company (a childcare training company). Numeracy and literacy will be taught in the mornings while the afternoons will be devoted to performing arts, sport and languages. Maharishi school, Lancashire - A private school in west Lancashire with a curriculum inspired by the teachings of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, it provides “consciousness-based” education for pupils aged 4-16. Private fees were up to £7,000 per year. Moorlands school, Luton - A private prep school founded in 1891 currently charging fees of up to £6,000 a year. It intends to retain maximum class sizes of 18. Nishkam free school, Birmingham - A Sikh primary school where "learning from faith" will inform all aspects of school life. Its curriculum will include compulsory Punjabi lessons. The school will be located in two Grade II listed building. Half its non-priority places will be for children of families practicing Sikh Daharam and 50 per cent based on random selection.Priors free school, Priors Marston, Warwickshire – A Christian-ethos school run by its community and funded by donations after the local authority withdrew funding to reduce the number of surplus places in the region. Rainbow free school, Bradford - Set up by Asian Trade Link, a non-profit community group, it counts former cricketer Imran Khan and Labour peer Lord Ahmed among its patrons. With the new term imminent, the school's website says its location has yet to be finalised. Local newspaper reports cast doubt on whether it will be ready in time.Sandbach school, Cheshire – This is a former private boys' school which, while it officially remains independent, is already publicly funded and operates as a specialist arts and sports college. It applied to become a free school after being refused academy status.St Luke's Church of England primary school, LB Camden - Led by an education psychologist and former teacher and backed by the Church of England, the school is being set up in the hall and grounds of the Hampstead church from which its gets its name. Opening with a reception class of 15 places. Stour Valley community school, Suffolk – The result of a campaign by local parents after Suffolk County Council reorganised its schools system, with junior, middle and upper schools replaced by primaries and secondaries. Parents objected to the closure of Clare Middle School, saying their childrenPrivatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 7 would be forced to travel ten miles to the nearest school. The free school is taking over the former middle school's buildings.West London free school, LB Hammersmith - Journalist and writer Toby Young is its chair of governors. It offers a ‘traditional’ education, with compulsory Latin to age 14 and a ‘competitive atmosphere’ for games. Its building is believed to have cost the taxpayer £15 million.Woodpecker Hall primary academy, LB Enfield - Set up by Patricia Sowter, the head of the neighbouring Cuckoo Hall academy, the first primary school to acquire academy status in September 2010. Patricia Sowter is a director of the Foundation, Aided Schools and Academies National Association which aims "to promote autonomy for schools to enable them to raise standards for students". Emails reveal fast-track funding for NSNThe free schools policy received fast-track public funding after the Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove's inner circle of advisers lobbied for funding for the New Schools Network (NSN), set up to promote free schools, according to leaked emails exposed by the The Guardian. An email from Dominic Cummings, a Tory strategist and confidant of the Education Secretary called for: "MG telling the civil servants to find a way to give NSN cash without delay." Cummings went on to work for the NSN on a freelance basis. The NSN, which is headed by Gove’s former special adviser, Rachel Wolf, was subsequently given a £500,000 grant. No other organisation was invited to bid for the work. A further leaked email reveals the blurred boundaries which existed between Gove's team and the NSN. In the email, Wolf is asked by one of Gove's staff to provide the prime minister with a "line to take" after a Tory councillor in Birmingham raised concerns that a free school in his city had the potential to be "socially divisive and undermine … community cohesion". Labour MP Lisa Nandy said the email indicated the NSN had been given public money to act as "a propaganda machine for a political agenda". Labour's shadow education secretary Andy Burnham has written publicly to the cabinet secretary Gus O’Donnell seeking clarity over whether the Ministerial and Civil Service Codes had been followed in awarding the grant to the NSN.In a letter to the Guardian NUT General Secretary Christine Blower pointed out that the NSN had received five separate payments totalling almost £319,000 between December 2010 and June 2011. (Guardian 30.08.11, Guardian Letters 01.9.11)Creationist free school approvedAn application to establish a free school by an evangelical church that favours the teaching of creationism in science lessons is believed to have been given initial approval. The application was made by the Everyday Champions Church to open a secondary school in Newark. Pastor Gareth Morgan, the church’s leader, told the TES earlier this year that: “Creationism will be taught as the belief of the leadership of the school. At the same time evolution will be taught as theory.” (Sunday Telegraph, 13/08/11)Privatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 8 Send in the troops?A report from the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), `Something Can Be Done, sets out proposals for a Phoenix free school in Greater Manchester staffed entirely by ex-military personnel and offering: zero tolerance of poor behaviour; synthetic phonics; competitive sport; a competitive house system; streaming by ability; and an end to children leaving school “with an inflated sense of self-worth, the consequences (of which) are seldom to their advantage.” CPS Director Tim Knox said: "Putting troops onto our streets may control the symptoms of social breakdown. But putting troops into our schools would do far more to address the underlying problems. In particular, ex-servicemen and women can provide the role models and sense of discipline that is so often lacking in inner city schools. The government should do all it can to help get the first Phoenix Free School off the ground as quickly as possible." (CPS Press Release, 02.09.11)Steiner free schools bidThe Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF) has submitted bids for three Steiner free schools. Two would be new schools in Somerset and Leeds and the third bid involves the transfer of the existing fee-paying Meadow Steiner School in Somerset to free school status. SWFS says it has plans to sponsor 14 academies and free schools by 2013. (TES, 19.08.11)Yorks MP challenges free school secrecyLabour MP John Healey, the Shadow Health Secretary, who represents the Wentworth and Dearne constituency in South Yorkshire where plans have been submitted for the Three Valleys Independent Academy has accused the Department of Education of shrouding the deal in secrecy.In March, Mr Healey submitted a Freedom of Information request to obtain the business case and other papers submitted in support of the school, but that request has now been refused by Ministers. He has now asked the Information Commissioner, who has the power to force public bodies to release information, to examine the case, in a bid to overturn the DfE decision. Mr Healey said: “The Government need to make this information public so people can judge for themselves whether the business case and claims of support are credible. Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money could be cut from local schools and ploughed into this free school. That is not something that should be done as a private deal.” (Yorkshire Post 27.08.11)Camden parents threaten legal actionCamden parents seeking to set up a free school are threatening the council with court action to prevent the sale of the buildings in which they wanted to open the Belsize free school. The council is selling the buildings to raise money to renovate existing schools and homes. (Camden New Journal, 01.09.11)Free school bids rejected The proposal for an all-though E-Act free school in Northampton has been rejected by the Government. E-Act’s Director General Sir Bruce Liddington is the ex-head of Northampton School for Boys. The DfE decided the proposal for thePrivatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 9 mixed non-faith school lacked sufficient parental demand and also raised concerns over its long-term funding. (Northampton Chronicle and Echo, 01/09/11)A bid to set up a free school in Richmond has been rejected by the DfE which gave one reason for rejecting the application as “not enough evidence of demand for school places in Richmond”. (This is London, 31.08.11)The independent St Paul’s School in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, run by a charity and mostly funded by Birmingham City Council has had its application to become a free school rejected despite being backed by 47 mainstream local schools and the local authority. The school caters for around 60 pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties, most of who have been excluded from mainstream school. (TES, 26.08.11)A bid for a free school in LB Lewisham whose proposers say aimed to break the link between teenagers and gang culture has been rejected on the grounds that it failed to show sufficient demand for places (Independent, 04.08.11)OTHER NEWSGovernment reports damn PFI A report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examining lessons from the private finance initiative (PFI) and other projects concludes that at present, PFI deals look better value for the private sector than for the taxpayer. The UK has 700 PFI contracts delivering a wide array of public assets and services including hospitals, schools, prisons, courts and roads with 61 further contracts under active consideration by the Government. The report says that the private sector manages PFI projects as a portfolio, benefiting from potential economies of scale without any obligation to share such volume gains. The PAC believes that some of the Government's case for using PFI has not been based on robust analysis, but on ill-founded comparisons and invalid assumptions. In particular, the PAC believes the Government should revisit the tax assumptions it builds into the cost and benefit case for PFI. Government assumes tax revenue for Government from PFI investments, but one of the largest PFI investment funds told the PAC that 72% of the shareholders of its management company were registered offshore. The PAC says it suspects that initial investors are able to make excessive profits from selling PFI shares, yet lacks the information to know for sure since Freedom of Information provisions do not currently apply to private providers of public services. (Lessons from PFI and other projects, House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, 01/09/11)A separate report from the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee last month said that with the yield on government bonds at near-record lows, using a PFI deal for a new infrastructure project could cost up to 1.7 times as much as financing it directly from public funds. Andrew Tyrie, the Committee’s Conservative chair urged the chancellor to call an immediate review and bring the cost of all previous projects onto the Treasury’s balance sheet. The cost of capital for a typical PFI project is currently 8 per cent, double the long-term government gilt rate of around 4 per cent, making PFI projects “significantly more expensivePrivatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 10 to fund over the life of a project. This represents a significant cost to the taxpayer,” says the report. (Guardian, 19.08.11)Walsall cancels SERCO contractWalsall Council has given SERCO two years’ notice of its intention to end its education services contract with the company, citing the “changing landscape” of government policy. Serco had been managing the council’s education since 2003 and the contract was renewed in 2008 for £345 million. It was due to run until 2020. (Education Investor, September 2011)Private tutoring deal in East AngliaFive schools in East Anglia have signed partnership agreements with private tutoring firm TLC Education Group to provide additional maths and English lessons. The company will set up “learning centres” on site at each school where pupils will receive extra tuition in small groups. (Education Investor, September 2011)Sandwell continues BSF battleSandwell Council is continuing its legal battle to force the government to refund its cancelled BSF schemes. The councils’ lawyers have written to Education Secretary Michael Gove arguing that it doesn’t believe his decision not to reinstate the scheme is in line with the High Court ruling that the secretary of state should reconsider the case of each school on its merits. The council was one of six to fight a High Court battle in February over the decision to scrap BSF. Mr Justice Holman ruled then that the Education Secretary had unlawfully failed to consult the councils before imposing the cuts and that he must reconsider his decision. However he added that any final judgement over the future of the BSF projects lay with the government. (Morning Star, 01.08.11)Traveller education at riskAlmost half of 127 local authorities have either abolished or drastically cut staff in their traveller education services, Freedom of Information requests for a report by the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain show that 24 councils planned to scrap their traveller education support team and a further 34 were cutting more than a third of staff. The report says the findings mean the education of England’s 300,000 travellers is in jeopardy. (Independent, 02.08.11)Cost of school meals risesResearch from Which? finds that the price of school meals is rising in two thirds of schools across the country this coming term. While a majority of parents will see the cost of school meals rise below the rate of inflation this month, others will have to pay up to 17 per cent more than this time last year. School meal prices have risen on average by around 2.5 per cent on last year, but some local authorities have increased prices by far more, according to Which? For primary school meals, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council has increased prices by 17 per cent (£1.70-£2) and Lewisham Borough Council by 14 per cent (£1.40- £1.60). The local authority with the biggest increase was Bolton MetropolitanPrivatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 11 Borough Council - 25 per cent - although its prices still remain the lowest in the country at £1.25. School meals managed by Poole Borough Council are the most expensive in the country - £2.50 on average in September 2011. Just 45 per cent of students in England currently take school meals. In some areas, including Wokingham District Council and West Sussex County Council, it is as low as 25 per cent. (Which? 30.08.11)Privatisation Update No 14, September 2011 - 12

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