The decision of Perth and Kinross Council to pull out of plans to provide Tayside schoolchildren with frozen meals will reduce savings made in Dundee and Angus by £100,000.
The creation of the new Tayside Meals Centre was expected to save Dundee City Council £512,000 a year.
Under the scheme, meals will be prepared at Tayside Contracts’ Tay Cuisine Industrial kitchen before being flash frozen and then taken to distribution hubs before being transported to schools.
But Perth and Kinross’ decision to back out of the project means Dundee City Council – which is pressing ahead with the scheme alongside neighbouring Angus Council – will only realise savings of £442,000 in total.
Angus Council expects to save £107,000 as result of the new system, £31,000 less than it would have had Perth and Kinross Council remained involved.
A report going before Dundee City Council’s policy and resources committee for noting on Monday states the increase in early years and childcare provision means local authorities in Tayside will need to provide an additional 1.2 million meals each year.
Due to the need to move ahead with the scheme, the report has already been approved by policy and resources committee convener John Alexander and opposition councillors responsible for policy and resources, as well as Lord Provost Ian Borthwick and independent councillor Gregor Murray.
The report claims the new Tayside Meals Centre may be the only way Dundee City Council can meet this demand.
It states: “This increase in meal numbers for early years makes the case for a single meal production facility more compelling financially but it is also driven by the practical challenges of being able to increase meal production through existing kitchen facilities.
“If members were not minded to support the proposals in this report urgent action would be needed to determine just how Dundee City Council would meet the required increase in meal provision in circa 10 months’ time.”
Councillors in Perth voted to against the plan after concerns about jobs losses in rural parts of Perthshire.
More than 3,000 people signed a petition against the proposal.
Up to 50 catering jobs would have been cut if the plan had been given the green light, saving almost £500,000.
