Cost of School Meal

Summary

A request for the breakdown of school lunch costs in Manx primary schools was partially fulfilled, disclosing the total average cost and raw ingredient cost, while the specific cost of cooking was withheld as it is not held in the requested format.

Key Facts

• The average cost of a primary school meal is £2.23 per child per day.
• The cost of raw ingredients (food expenses) is £0.96 per child per day.
• The Department does not hold the specific cost of cooking in the requested format.
• The figures are based on data from September to November of the current academic year.
• The request was received on 4 December 2019 and responded to on 31 December 2019.

Data Disclosed

• £2.23
• £0.96
• 4 December 2019
• 31 December 2019
• September to November
• 1083261

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015
• Section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015

Original Request

Please provide the average cost of a school lunch given to a child in a Manx primary school. Please break down the cost into the cost of raw ingredients + cost of cooking = total average cost of a lunch.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Corporate Services Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Hamilton House Peel Road, Douglas IM1 5EZ Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im Our ref: 1083261 31 December 2019

Dear ###,

We write further to your request which was received on 4 December 2019 and which states:

"Please provide the average cost of a school lunch given to a child in a Manx primary school. Please break down the cost into: the cost of raw ingredients + cost of cooking = total average cost of a lunch."

Our response to your request is as follows: While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested. Therefore a practical refusal reason applies under sections 11(2)(b) and 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act) and we are unable to remove the practical refusal reason. This is because the cost of cooking a school meal in a Primary School is currently not held by the Department in the format you have requested. However I have detailed below the information that is held. The average cost of a Primary School meal has been calculated as £2.23 per child per day. This has been calculated using the information held for the three complete months (September to November) from the current academic year, which includes the number of days school meals were served, the number of children who had been served a school meal, the total cost of expenses and the total cost of salaries. The total cost of expenses is the amount spent on food bought into the school and in terms of your request for information would be equivalent to the cost of raw ingredients. For the current academic year this was £0.96 per child per day (included within the above figure).

Please quote the reference number 1083261 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Coordinator