• Barnet Labour councillors will keep working for comprehensive solution

Barnet Labour has welcomed the significant progress towards ensuring state Jewish primary schools can access Kosher catering for the next academic year following an announcement from Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The Mayor’s pledge of a £5million contingency fund for those schools that bear extra catering costs in delivering his pledge to ensure free lunches for all Primary School children is an important step to resolving this vital issue.

The fund will help with any extraordinary costs associated with implementation of the Mayor’s free school meal offer, including for pupils who may have specific dietary requirements in connection with their religion.

The announcement responds to an Equalities Impact Assessment which has also been published.

Barnet councillors have been in intense discussions on this issue with the Mayor’s team. Barnet Labour Councillor Anne Clarke, who is also the Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden, and has been part of the talks, said:

“We’ve been working with the Mayor’s office to ensure there is understanding that Kosher catering is significantly more expensive. We welcome the Equality Impact Assessment which we believe will enable additional funding for Kosher meals, and we are waiting for confirmation.

“There is still some way to go to secure a Kosher catering provider for all our state Jewish schools and we will continue to advocate for and work with our Jewish schools.

“I do want to thank the Jewish schools and the Jewish Communal Organisations, including the London Jewish Forum, who have been involved in cross-party discussions and in liaising with the GLA, for their leadership, and work on this issue.”