London Borough of Richmond

• In July, of the 17 primary and special schools surveyed, falling within LBRUT, all but one used the borough's provision.
• In July, the school recording the highest take-up under the borough contract (45%) was serving 85% of those meals to children entitled to free school meals.
• From September 2007, 14 schools in the same group have chosen to continue with the borough provision under its new contract with Sodexho. Two schools dropped out of the contract, one in favour of a smaller caterer contracted directly by the school, the other preferring to go without a school meal whilst they actively pursue options outside the borough contract.
• Of those 14 schools choosing to stay with the borough contract, 6 described their kitchens as "fully operational", 7 described their facilities as needing an upgrade if they were to consider a provision outside the borough contract, and one did not comment.
• Sodexho describe their provision in Richmond primary schools as a "kitchenless" solution. This is a frozen main meal produced in Wales, transported to our 14 schools to be re-heated and served with fresh vegetables and salad.
• Most of the 14 schools with Sodexho have described the new meal as "improved" and have noticed a small increase in take-up.
• Two of the LBRUT secondary schools surveyed have around 60% take-up, and the third school has a 30% take-up. At two of these schools, around 45% of meals are taken by children entitled to free school meals.