A leading food wholesaler has warned rising food price inflation could result in smaller or lower-quality school lunches.
The prospect of schools having to cut back on catering was raised by leading food wholesaler Andrew Selley.
He has urged the Government to ensure funding for free school meals keeps pace with inflation so children do not suffer.
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Knowsley had the fifth-highest proportion of state school pupils eligible for free school meals (FSMs) as of January 2021, the latest Department for Education (DfE) data shows.
Some 7,879 (37.6%) were able to claim them last year – meaning children in the area could be more likely to be at risk if schools have to downgrade meals.
That compared to 31.1% of children in Liverpool, and 25.1% of those in the Wirral.
However, Knowsley Council told the ECHO that the local authority ruled out reducing the quality of the food provision.
Cllr Margaret Harvey, Deputy Leader of Knowsley Council and Cabinet Member for Children’s Services said: "We know how important free school meals are to many families in the borough, especially with the additional financial pressures caused by the cost of living crisis.
"Here in Knowsley, the Council provides the majority of the borough’s free schools meals and we work closely with our produce suppliers to ensure that both the quality and quantity of food served is of a high standard and importantly provides our children and young people with substantial and nutritious lunch options.
"Obviously, we are more than aware of some of the concerns and uncertainties within the food industry but we do not have any plans to reduce the quality of the meals which we provide. We continue to work closely with our supply chain to ensure the delivery of sufficient, high quality produce is maintained, despite the challenges."
Across Merseyside as a whole, 58,947 children (27.5%) were able to claim FSMs as of January, up from 23.8% a year earlier and 20.4% five years previously.
Of those, 13,512 became eligible after March 23 2020, when the first national pandemic lockdown was announced.
Mr Selley, the chief executive of major food wholesalers and distributors Bidfood, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that disruption to food supply due to the Ukraine war had driven big price hikes for sunflower oil and wheat, with knock-on effects on bakery items, pasta, eggs and chicken.
He said FSMs were vital for children’s education, attainment and longer-term contribution to society and that the Government needed to ensure funding for them keeps pace with inflation.
He added: “Over the last 10 years the amount of money the Government provides for FSMs has only gone up by 1.7%, which obviously was well behind inflation even before this last 12 months.
“So we can see that’s going to leave some difficult decisions for school caterers. Either they’re going to serve potentially smaller portions or cheaper ingredients, which isn’t going to be good for the children.”
The comments come after the governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey apologised for issuing an “apocalyptic” warning after saying food price rises caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were a “major worry”.
Across England, 1.74 million pupils (20.8%) were eligible for free school meals in January 2021, up from 17.3% a year earlier and 14.3% in 2016.
Of those able to get free meals last year, 427,000 became eligible after 23 March 2020.
A government spokesperson said: “We recognise the pressures that some schools may face and have given them the autonomy to agree individual contracts with suppliers and caterers, using their increased core funding.
“This funding has gone up by £4 billion in 2022-23 alone – a 7% increase in cash terms per pupil from last year.
“Schools also have flexibility in the food they offer, under the School Food Standards. If a particular product is not readily available for any reason, the standards give schools and caterers the freedom to substitute in similar foods that are available."
