North Tyneside school meals should be brought back under council control, GMB has demanded, after a national review found the majority of English secondary schools are breaking food standards rules.
The union’s call follows a report by food charity Bite Back, which set out to examine how closely the 2014 School Food Standards are being followed in secondary schools across England. Bite Back analysed menus from 391 secondary schools and found three out of four contained at least one standards breach, with unhealthy foods offered too frequently.
What the data shows about school food across England
The scale of non-compliance is stark. The Guardian reported that 224 schools, representing 57% of those surveyed, were serving meat products such as burgers, nuggets, sausages and goujons more often than the twice-a-week limit permitted under the standards. Hash browns, also classified as a fried starchy food that should appear no more than twice a week, were on the menu more frequently at 144 schools, or 37% of those examined.
The findings on desserts were equally pointed. Solid chocolate, including chocolate chips and chocolate coatings used in bakes and puddings, is banned outright under the standards. Yet 123 schools, 31% of the sample, were using it anyway, according to The Guardian’s coverage of the Bite Back report.
GMB is clear that the situation in North Tyneside fits directly into this national picture. A spokesperson said: ‘Nothing in the article surprises the GMB, since the announcement a few years ago that North Tyneside Council were closing their School Meals Service, we warned of the impact on the children of North Tyneside’s health. We’ve seen the rising cost of school meals year-on-year and a drop in the quality of ingredients.’
North Tyneside school meals: the background to the 2024 suspension
North Tyneside Council announced in 2023 that it would suspend its school catering service. The reasons given were declining school uptake and a £3m annual shortfall. The suspension came into effect in March the following year, handing responsibility for catering to private providers.
GMB argues that move has damaged both the quality of food children receive and the cost parents pay. ‘Instead of advising schools, North Tyneside Council should be leading the way and taking back the School Meals Service from the private companies, who only seek to make a profit,’ the spokesperson said. ‘GMB firmly believes that children’s health and meals should not be left in the hands of the cheapest option.’
The union also linked the school meals issue to a separate dispute over High Borrans, an outdoor education centre the council plans to close. In their statement, GMB called on the council to ‘keep High Borrans open and restart the Schools Meals Service’, framing both as part of what it described as a ‘continuous attack on the health and well-being of the children of North Tyneside’.
The council has defended its position on High Borrans separately, citing costs of around £3m to keep it running, despite £900,000 being spent there in recent years, and a subsidy of about £165 per child including £62,000 per year for out-of-borough pupils. Attendance figures showed 1,255 pupils from Years 5 to 8 had used the centre, from a potential cohort of 9,300.
Stephen Ballantyne, interim director of resources at North Tyneside Council, said the decision to end the school meals service ‘was not taken lightly, but it was a necessary one’. He pointed to financial pressures faced by councils across the country, and said the authority had ‘continued to work positively with school leaders to support healthy eating and ensure pupils have access to nutritious meals throughout the school day’ since the 2024 transition.
Ballantyne added: ‘Giving children and young people the best possible start in life remains a key priority for the council. By reviewing services and focusing our resources where they can have the greatest impact, we can continue to support the residents and communities who need us most.’
The Bite Back report now gives GMB concrete national data to back its long-standing local argument. With three in four secondary school menus failing standards in the national sample, the union’s position is that private providers cannot be trusted to put nutrition first, and that North Tyneside school meals need to come back under public management.