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Brown highlighted the disparity between meals pricing in London at £2.65 (for 2023/24) and the rest of England at £2.53, compared with Scotland at £3.33 and questioned who could plug the gap?

She said the offer to children did not usually differ, but with costs rising the difference needed to be covered because parents could not afford higher meal prices. LACA would be campaigning for parity in school meal funding across the UK, she added.

The Public Sector Catering 'Most Influential' group also discussed topics including anti-biotic resistance, allergens, animal welfare standards, recruitment and retention, low carbon menus, sustainability and post-election UK.

Brown also said that with the cost of meat increasing by 57% over the year, a survey of school caterers revealed that most were not looking to import cheaper meats but simply to replace it with other proteins.

“We’re not putting the roast meats on that we would like to do, we’re just looking at more plant-based and doing things differently,” she said.