SCHOOL meals in Denbighshire are set to “reluctantly” be increased by 30p.

From April 1, secondary school meals in the county will rise to £2.95 per day.

Denbighshire County Council attributed its “necessary” decision to the “rising prices of food”, in a letter circulated to parents.

The letter, shown to the Journal, was written by Hayley Jones, the council’s principal manager of catering and cleaning.

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Ms Jones wrote: “As you may be aware, Denbighshire County Council’s school meals service is one of the top-performing local authority catering services. 

“This reflects our commitment to providing the best possible experience for pupils in Denbighshire’s schools.

“It is widely recognised that eating a nutritionally balanced school meal has a positive impact on a child’s ability to concentrate throughout the afternoon and providing a healthy, varied menu for all school pupils remains our priority.

“We have and continue to work extremely hard with our suppliers to control the cost of food, without compromising on the quality of the meals we provide. 

“As you will be aware from the rising prices of food the cost of producing a meal is rising significantly.”

Despite the increase, Ms Jones said she believes the council’s school meals service will still offer “excellent value for money”.

Investment in the quality of the meals provided will remain its priority, she said. 

This is to ensure that “standards remain high” and that the council will “continue to be one of the UK’s best schools catering services”.

She added: “In order to maintain our current high standards, regrettably, it is necessary to increase our charges.

“Therefore, from April 1, we will reluctantly be increasing the cost of school meals by 30p per meal for the set meal of the day.

“This will mean that secondary school meals will rise to £2.95 per day, and there will be minimal price rises on some individual items.

“The equivalent allowance for free school meals will also rise accordingly.”