Read more on this

Read more on this

Universal Free School Meals will continue with Lib Dems in Southwark, helped by Lib Dems in government

by Anood Al-Samerai on 18 October, 2013

When our council group decided that we would keep universal free school meals next year we wanted to let residents know. Labour has saved us lots of work by helping to tell everyone that Southwark Liberal Democrats will be keeping free school meals next year.

Then there was the announcement that Liberal Democrats in government would be giving councils extra money for free school meals. Labour very kindly, again, let everyone know that it was the Lib Dems in government who were responsible for this extra funding in Southwark.

But they have been less clear on the history so let me set it out.

It was right for us to be concerned about whether free school meals would actually tackle obesity.

We were never against free school meals for families on low incomes, but it was right for us to ask if  paying for richer families’ school dinners wasn’t the best use of council money. Particularly at a time when front line services like nurseries and sports programmes were being cut.

It was right for us, as the opposition, to present alternatives.

But things have moved on. After 3 years of spending lots of council money on doing up school kitchens and of parents getting used to not having to find the money for school meals, it was right for us to reconsider. So we spent the summer listening to parents and democratically agreeing our position as a group. We knew that Labour would behave childishly but it was more important for us to act on the side of residents.
And the news that government funding is now available is a real bonus as this frees up Southwark Council money. I agree that it would be great if the government could fund all of it but always going to welcome with open arms any extra money for Southwark.
Labour spent this week’s council meeting crowing and reading out Lib Dem comments from the past. But you are allowed to change your position in politics as circumstances change. I believe that residents actually welcome politicians who are prepared to listen to them and to respond. It’s grown up politics and shouldn’t be that big a deal.

Labour also ought to remember that their position has changed over the years. They said that community councils would be a waste of time and that the new Canada Water Library was wasting money. Labour spent the last three years arguing that the Elephant shopping centre didn’t need to be demolished and rebuilt as Lib Dems have been calling for. They’ve recently changed their mind about this. Situations do move on and the community understands that.

So it’s now about how this debate moves on.  Residents now know that both main parties in Southwark will keep universal free school meals, so what next?
It must be about seeing how else obesity can be tackled because no-one suggests that free school meals will solve everything. I’d like to see far more done to promote physical activity and sport. The deputation at council assembly this week made a great point about indoor play during winter months – basically extending parks inside with soft play equipment. This was an excellent idea and I plan to follow up with the council on how this suggestion could be taken up. Southwark Liberal Democrats have also recently been petitioning to refurbish and re-open Southwark Park Athletics Track. (If you would like to sign our petition please go to http://southwark-libdems.org.uk/en/petition/reopen-southwark-s-athletics-track-now )

I also think lots more could be done to help families with breakfasts as there is loads of evidence to show that children still don’t start the day with a healthy breakfast. And we have to tackle the problem of chips and crisps on the way home.

Also, the Liberal Democrats in government have secured extra money for free school meals and this can only be a good thing for Southwark. The council needs to carry out a genuine consultation about how it will spend this extra money.

 

I do hope that all politicians in Southwark will be able to move forwards with this debate as the spite and aggression doesn’t help anyone. This issue should only ever be about listening to residents and doing our very best by them.

   Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>