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The Education Department was “surprisingly indifferent” about whether a private company was benefiting from providing free vouchers for school meals, MPs warned.
Edenred was hired to execute the plan during the first shutdown, but had trouble meeting the demand for vouchers from eligible families, causing “unacceptable” delays, according to the Public Accounts Committee.
Their report also found that “serious problems” arose because the company did not put in place sufficient capacity to handle calls from schools and families at the start of the plan last April.
Secretary of Education Gavin Williamson
Only one outsourced contact center was hired to help the following month, and it was only in May that Edenred and the DfE realized that 40,000 electronic codes that were designed to become coupons had not been provided to families.
The Department of Education ended up extending the contract with Edenred twice, increasing the deal’s value five times from 78 million pounds to 425 million pounds, but the ministry did not renegotiate terms and ensured better value for money, MPs said. .
Elsewhere in the PAC report, it is suggested that the DfE did not do enough to examine how far families would have to travel to supermarkets that accepted vouchers.
At the start of the program, 11.2% of all schools were more than five kilometers from the nearest participating store.
Edenred won the deal to distribute vouchers to England’s 1.44 million poorest children without going through a bidding process, and one union described the launch as an “absolute disaster.”
Labor Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “Whether it’s bringing life-saving equipment to front-line workers or food for starving children from the poorest families, the government’s inability to learn From your repeated hiring mistakes, over and over, big and small, you are costing this nation too much.
“After the initial urgency, we have seen the government continue to try to catch up on how to support families whose children are entitled to free school meals, and even though the contract with Edenred was multiplied by more than five, there was no discussion about bidding the contract or even renegotiating that. “
Last month, the government relaunched Edenred’s voucher program for free school meals after images of meager food packages sent to families, from catering companies operating in a separate scheme, sparked a social media outcry. social.
The government relaunched the voucher scheme after a mother tweeted this photo of her children’s food package. Photo: @RoadsideMum
Geoff Barton, Secretary General of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The launch of Edenred’s national food voucher program at the beginning of the pandemic was an absolute disaster and put schools under enormous additional pressure as it was already an incredibly difficult time.
“It is an insult to injury to see this report’s damning conclusion that the DfE apparently missed potential opportunities to renegotiate the contract and cut costs, and that it appears to have been quite accommodating on this front.”
A spokesperson for Edenred said: “With 95% of families saying the free school meal voucher program has worked well for them and a contract that has ensured that every pound of public money is transferred to the children and families who do so. needed, free of charge. ” For the DfE or the taxpayer, Edenred has delivered a program that has provided vital support to families during the pandemic and good value for money for the DfE.
“Edenred completely rejects any suggestion to profit from the free school meal voucher program. Edenred has returned 1% of the contract value to the government in refunds since the start of the program. This means that the taxpayer paid less than the full value of the vouchers distributed to families “.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said there was no evidence of “profiting” from the national voucher scheme, adding: “We have already made further improvements to the scheme that take into account the recommendations in this report, including improving the terms of the contract to guarantee the best value for money for taxpayers.
“The scheme has been extensively tested and additional support provided for schools and parents, resulting in an efficient system with £ 47 million in eCodes redeemed as of Wednesday – 96% of parents say they are happy and satisfied “.
Marcus Rashford has campaigned to ensure that the nation’s poorest children continue to receive free school meals during school holidays. Photo: AP
Catering giant Compass has confirmed that it will cover the cost of free school meal packages for children during the February semester after its Chartwells division was criticized for shoddy baskets.
The group said, “Since January 25, Chartwells has been providing breakfast to all children who currently receive a lunch package from us during school closings.
“We will also provide lunch and breakfast packages to those same children during the February mid-term recess. The costs of these initiatives will be covered by Compass.”
The government has repeatedly yielded to pressure from the Manchester United player Marcus rashford, which has campaigned to ensure that the country’s poorest children continue to receive free school meals during school holidays.
