THERE have been fresh demands for a cut in the cost of York’s school lunches, after a pilot price reduction saw demand soar.

The School Food Trust has urged schools and councils across the country to use special offers to tempt customers, especially in January when many families are cash-strapped.

The Trust says its calls are supported by a series of week-long tests in York and Waltham Forest, East London, which saw the number of children eating school dinners increase by 22 per cent and ten per cent respectively.

One of the offers was an “all meals for £1” promotion, which the Trust is now carrying out further tests on.

Judy Hargadon, chief executive of the trust, said: “This study underlines the importance of price for parents and pupils when making the choice to buy a school lunch.”

At £2.15 a meal, York’s school lunches are currently the most expensive in Yorkshire. Last year, the city’s Labour councillors pressed for the price to be cut to £1.05, but the move was voted down at the council budget meeting.

The party yesterday renewed its calls, with local leader David Scott saying increasing the price of lunches created a “false economy”.

He said: “Labour proposed decreasing the cost of school meals at our budget last year to stimulate uptake.

“The trial last year shows that this would work, and the Schools Food Trust supports this view.”

He accused the council’s ruling Liberal Democrats of wasting an opportunity to promote the positive aspects of school lunches, but the Lib Dems hit back.

Carol Runciman, exective member for children’s services, said it was hard to tell if the increase during the pilot would be sustained over a longer period, and said the costs of the trials outweighed the benefits.

She added: “We are currently market-testing the school meals contract to ensure that we are getting the best value for our money and unless that exercise provides significant savings, the only way to reduce the price of school meals would be through further subsidy.”

The Trust said research by London economists showed demand for school food was sensitive to price changes, with each ten per cent price rise leading to a fall in take up of seven to ten per cent.

The Government’s School Lunch Grant ring-fenced £80 million from 2008 to 2011 for councils to keep down the price of school meals.