[Closed] Scrapping the £30 meal vouchers

You think this will reflect badly on the government?

Think again, social media & BBC, dm comments section will be full of Johnson fans who think that's far to much good to give to any lazy workshy child

And apparently the company responsible are part of Compass group, who are big donors to which party 🤔

And they got busted doing this in March

https://twitter.com/MarinaNigrelli/status/1348701472461090817?s=19

Shameful isn't it but we all know who will be paying for Brexit and the pandemic and those that will profit from it don't we?😕

As kimbers says though, there are many out there that would genuinely prefer that no help be given, food or voucher.

Classic levelling down.

I've seen that response on Twitter but it makes no sense.

Even if you don't agree with feeding children, surely you still want the government to get good value for money.

The worst example I've seen comes from the woman who runs a local food bank. The £30 box of food delivered to a local family comes to a grand total of £5.22.

As someone responsible for the Pastoral Care of 160 students, to say I'm a little miffed about this might be an understatement...

https://twitter.com/RoadsideMum/status/1348646428084760576?s=19

It's just ****ing outrageous, the latest in a long line of them. And you know nothing - nothing - will change.

And apparently the company responsible are part of Compass group, who are big donors to which party 🤔

It certainly has all the hallmarks of classic corruption hiding in plain sight - something this gov't seem adept at. I could give you £30, but instead I will give my mate £20 and claim I saved the country a fortune. He in turn will give you £5 worth of food and send £5 as a donation to me, and pocket the £10. Everyone wins. Except you.

You've really got to hand it to the Tories haven't you? When it comes to ****ing over the general public, they've really got it dialled.

Public (spokesperson: Marcus Rashford): You should feed the people you've driven into poverty with years of austerity made palatable by a compliant media.
Tories: No.
Public: No, you really should.
Tories: No.
Public: We're not going to shut up until you do.
Tories: OK...
[conferring] I know, let's pretend we're feeding them, but actually just give them crumbs, whilst charging the treasury as if we're actually feeding them properly. We can split the difference between us and that mate of ours who runs a firm with no experience in supplying food.
Tories: We shall feed the poor!

If they were worried the cash was not being spent on food vouchers would be more appropriate, that way people get to choose their full £30 and it goes on food.

With the food box approach you're paying for a load of infrastructure, people to pack and deliver the food, so even if it's not corrupt it's not the best value for money when we have a range of supermarkets that already do that and it's already in the food cost.

A Gousto box for 2 for 4 complete meals including meat, veg, spices etc. is not much more than £30 and contains a lot more food than the picture up there.

Lots and lots of people voted for them, I guess the only real thing you can do today is think where you are spending your money. Make sure as little gets back them as possible. Perhaps we can make a list of retailers who don’t support tories by county and sticky it? If STW allow.

If they were worried the cash was not being spent on food vouchers would be more appropriate, that way people get to choose their full £30 and it goes on food.

Lots of people saying they did vouchers before, and you could NOT spend them on alcohol, nicotine, the Lottery, etc etc, contrary to much Daily Heilesque misinformation.

I think stumpyjon has it. Seems like a really poorly implemented idea. The idea of vouchers is not a bad idea but this is just crazy adding the extra overheads and hence the middle men taking their cuts.

It's poorly implemented, unless your goal is to try and extract some value for yourself/your rich friends, in which case it's much more effective.

That Chartwells example is disgraceful. There’s a small Manchester company doing it right… I’ll dig out an example… like all schemes like this… contract to your cronies and the people suffer from a double whammy of poor service and tax money being taken for old rope.

https://twitter.com/michaeljebelli/status/1348771567296253955?s=21

Utterly shameful, it's not like even like they're quietly trying to skim off an extra 10% for themselves, it's so blatant they know they'll get away with it, as others have said I wonder why that might be?
My wife is a teacher and says the quality of the stuff Chartwells supply in schools is utter shite as well.

Utter T#ry scumbags will be scumbags. So long as their mates are getting fat off the public and taxpayer they don't care.

How someone thinks they can profiteer from the poorest in society right now is just utterly disgraceful

I'm just surprised that anyone's surprised.

It's what they do.

As the PPE 'Fast Lane' cronyism scandal (of which I'm sure we'll hear a lot more come the public inquiry), and the £22 billion test and trace farce demonstrate, the priority for this lot is to funnel as much public money as possible into the pockets of their mates.

They're so utterly shameless, they barely even bother to pretend their priority is anything else

I'd be amazed if nobody on this thread voted Tory.

All my (rapidly aging) life we've known what they're like. But the UK votes them in, often in landslide fashion.

Scrolling through this it seems this is not uncommon at all, do the whole thread

https://twitter.com/BootstrapCook/status/1348917929132367872?s=19

Ffs

Utter disgrace, insulting tbh

The contents of the boxes delivered to those shielding were bloody awful too, I expect the same graft was involved in that ostensibly helpful gesture.

These service companies have been ripping off schools and pupils for years in the form of school dinners delivered to primaries who don’t have kitchens. I’m amazed anyone’s amazed. Service companies like Serco are some of the biggest leeches on society.

If only there was something you could do, as an individual, to register your disgust.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass_Group

General Enquiries
Compass Group PLC
Registered Office:
Compass House
Guildford Street
Chertsey
Surrey
KT16 9BQ
UK

T: +44 1932 573 000
F: +44 1932 569 956

This surely has got to be the straw that breaks the camels back, right?  I am so close to pulling a Falling Down on the nearest Tory MP right now.

Francie Boyle has posted that those boxes are costing the tax payer £44, but my googlefu has let me down and I can't see a reference to this.

Covid is protecting the government as right now I want to march on Downing Street with pitchforks and vent my utter contempt for the bastards.

^ same here. If these ****s can screw anyone they will.

This is why I hate the Tories.

If you voted Tory, this is your fault.
No one else.
You.

I hope you're proud of yourselves.

This is why I hate the Tories.

If you voted Tory, this is your fault.
No one else.
You.

I hope you’re proud of yourselves

Pretty much this here too. This is all a choice, and the government and their supporting majority not only make the choice but plainly have no issues with it being a reasonable choice. They **** anyone over if there was money to be made out of it. They're shits. There used to be some decent Tories in the mix that brought some balance, though frequently not enough, but they've been culled or at least moved to irrelevance in the party.

I hate the motivation behind these choices, and I suspect that it's only possible to make these choices from an ivory tower and with obedient media engines to relay the messages you need. If you had to look people in the eye and explain it to them, you'd never get away with it, but they don't so they do.

But the UK votes them in, often in landslide fashion.

More people voted Labour or Libdem than Conservative in the last election, so all is not lost - it's our electoral system that delivers us this shit.

Surely this would be a great opportunity for the supermarkets to step up and offer to do the boxes for a vastly reduced cost. They have the stock, the infrastructure and if they all banded together to do it then the cost would be shared and they would get great publicity.

Anyone know how to suggest my idea to Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys etc by Twitter or similar?

If you voted Tory, this is your fault.

Wonder how much of it is down to Tory corruption / ideology vs good old fashioned government (not political) inability to run things efficiently. I know there's been a fair few clear cut cases of jobs for mates no one can argue with but I suspect there is also an element of someone in the civil service not looking at what they thought they had procured vs. what is being delivered, were basic service levels even stipulated in contracts, and who actually worded them. It's easy to blame the ploticians (unintentionally misspelling but I think I've leave it), especially at the moment with the most corrupt bunch we've ever seen, but they may not be the only cause.

WCA, supermarkets, obvious when you think about it, they provide £30 of food £30. With Asda we get free delivery for £6 per month, infrastructure and supply chains already in place, great PR for them, probably still do it at a profit with massively better delivery.

Wonder how much of it is down to Tory corruption / ideology vs good old fashioned government (not political) inability to run things efficiently. I know there’s been a fair few clear cut cases of jobs for mates no one can argue with but I suspect there is also an element of someone in the civil service not looking at what they thought they had procured vs. what is being delivered

..Blah blah consplaining (my term to invent a word)

Just bring the ****ing vouchers back.(except now the dumb ****s would have to pay the penalty clause for ending the contract early)

Why couldn't they just email a voucher for a supermarket of choice that couldn't be redeemed against cigs, booze or petrol?

The schools have the email addresses.

I’m just surprised that anyone’s surprised.

Never be surprised at what you opponents do, disappointed yes, surprised, no.

There are a lot of people who find it offensive that 'their' taxpayer money is being spent on food for kids(Cameron and Osbourne certainly did a job, didn't they?), yet don't even blink when it comes to their taxpayer money being 'transferred' on PPE contracts.

The absence of logic is disappointing, but in the same way that evangelicals voted for trump, they will dance with the devil, if the devil achieves their aims.

I doubt Cameron had any concern that when he used the term 'broken Britain', he was referring to the voters of his own party.

Wonder how much of it is down to Tory corruption / ideology vs good old fashioned government (not political) inability to run things efficiently.

There is an element of truth to that, aircraft carriers starting off at 3.2bn and ending up at over 6bn for instance, and the likes of serco and G4s constantly getting Government contracts. When it comes to the latter, its down to no other organisation being big enough to handle those contracts, so they end up in the hands of the shysters. Again. And again.

But this lot are corrupt, and their incompetence in Government make matters worse.

There are a lot of people who find it offensive that ‘their’ taxpayer money is being spent on food for kids

Plenty of "if you can't afford to feed your kids maybe you shouldn't have had them" type comments on this story on my local newspaper's facebook page. There really are some unfeeling heartless bastards out there.

This is a proper failure -and it reflects the culture in our public services and politicians leading it.

Why couldn’t they just email a voucher for a supermarket of choice that couldn’t be redeemed against cigs, booze or petrol?

The schools have the email addresses.

According to my lovable Daily Mail reading family member, because even if they can't spend the voucher on booze and fags, they sell them to the local drug dealer for £15 of drugs. Even the drug dealers need to buy food, so they then make the profit on the drugs and a commission on the transaction. Win win.

(probably completely untrue. I suspect that the vast majority of families on FSM/vouchers are not more concerned with feeding their kids than anything else, although I'm sure someone, somewhere has done this. But that's the other side of the echo chamber, that we don't see very much)

I doubt Cameron had any concern that when he used the term ‘broken Britain’

Not forgetting that Cameron wrote to his local council complaining about the level of service & got a terse letter back asking him what did he expect when local government funding was cut by x%, stupid isn't a new thing in the Conservative party

With Asda we get free delivery for £6 per month,

Sounds great!

BTW I've got a free bridge you can have if you PM me your bank details 😉

chartwells response: https://twitter.com/Chartwells_UK/status/1349050962531528705

It's bloody Barnards Castle all over again.

According to my lovable Daily Mail reading family member, because even if they can’t spend the voucher on booze and fags, they sell them to the local drug dealer for £15 of drugs. Even the drug dealers need to buy food, so they then make the profit on the drugs and a commission on the transaction. Win win.

by the same logic, "poor parent" could spend the £30 (or rather £5.30) they would have spent on that amount of food, on booze and fags*, cutting out the drug dealer completely.

*or other things like rent and electicity

Someone on Twitter pointed out that they could spend £20on fags and booze and still double the food they bought.

I dont care for football at all, but hes a good egg that Marcus Rashford and no doubt it will set a good example to his young followers that standing up for what you believe in can result in change.

Plenty of “if you can’t afford to feed your kids maybe you shouldn’t have had them” type comments on this story on my local newspaper’s facebook page. There really are some unfeeling heartless bastards out there.

Even if you feel like this it still makes sense to feed their kids now as it's cheaper for society in the long term. It's not like the kids can help who their parents are either.

I'll put my head above the parapet and say that I voted Tory last time out, I had what I believed to be good honest intentions at the time for what I thought was right for myself and my family, not voted too many times before, once for Lib dems and then the Eu vote which was a remain. Its not really until you have situations like this which being in pandemic has highlighted more of what is going on in the whole country not just in 'my bubble' so to speak which is how I have previously lived. Been through two recessions previously and maybe because I was younger and not bothered in voting but just cracked on I never really noticed what was happening in the general population. Over the last year what I have seen from the people that I suppose I put in place has not been good to watch (mildy put), I can honestly say I'll not make the same mistake again, so for that I do apologise.
Back on topic, chaterwells have been a shower of sh*t for a while now so this is no surprise

With Asda we get free delivery for £6 per month,

Alright pedant, I'll rephrase that, we get unlimited deliveries per month for £6, seeing as we use it for my mother in law, us, daughter in universtity accommodation, it works out around 50p per delivery, not exactly expensive.

As for G4S, bunch of utter *******. We use them and are actively trying to move to a smaller provider, I spend more time checking their invoices and demanding credit notes than I do with all my other suppliers put together. Mind you I work for a private company where we expect out suppliers to deliver and if they don't we won't pay the invoice.

I’ll put my head above the parapet and say that I voted Tory last time out, I had what I believed to be good honest intentions at the time for what I thought was right for myself and my family, not voted too many times before, once for Lib dems and then the Eu vote which was a remain. Its not really until you have situations like this which being in pandemic has highlighted more of what is going on in the whole country not just in ‘my bubble’ so to speak which is how I have previously lived. Been through two recessions previously and maybe because I was younger and not bothered in voting but just cracked on I never really noticed what was happening in the general population. Over the last year what I have seen from the people that I suppose I put in place has been good to watch (mildy put), I can honestly say I’ll not make the same mistake again, so for that I do apologise.

Takes a lot to admit that you went against the general consensus on this forum, so well done.
I've voted for every major party (in England) at some point. In 3 different constituencies, 2 of which actually were worth bothering in.

I'd describe myself as financially conservative but socially progressive, and a remainer; so you can see how my loyalties are torn.

I voted for labour last december, purely for their brexit stance. My opinions at the time on their ability or lack thereof to handle a once in a century pandemic or indeed any other huge global disaster can hand on heart be described as absolutely non existant.

I'm not a fan of the idea that anyone can use the fact that they voted for <anyone but the current government> as a smug way of personally absolving themselves of all responsibility for anything.

BTW, I'd level the same critisism to any Tory who said a similar thing during Blair/Brown rule.

pjm60 that response on Twitter is funny- "Well, yeah it's £5 of food but we only charged £10.50 not £30, so #BLOWN!"

Must confess I've succumbed to "why should I feed your kids?" thinking in darker times but after all the money-spunking since 07/08 the value proposition for well nourished poor kids (improving concentration for learning etc etc) looks amazing by comparison. Like Gribs mentioned it's good investment for future society.

£3/day is enough for a great kids lunch at supermarket prices [edit:but a struggle if >50% is lost on admin, packing and distribution]

ayjaydoubleyou that describes me to T, traditionally I should be a conservative voter, i voted for Corbyn despite my intense dislike of him and his policies because there was no way I was voting for the divisive and destructive policies of Johnson. Would have voted libdem but that would have been a wasted vote.

pish well and truly boiled today, I really have had enough of this shower of sh1t.
letter to local MP (labour so there is bot all she can really do) and I'm looking forward to 2021 protests.

Even if you don’t agree with feeding children, surely you still want the government to get good value for money.

The kids are the future. Future workers, working with and for the country.

TheBrick
Free Member

I think stumpyjon has it. Seems like a really poorly implemented idea.

It's been implemented perfectly tbh

Mister-P
Free Member

Plenty of “if you can’t afford to feed your kids maybe you shouldn’t have had them” type comments on this story on my local newspaper’s facebook page. There really are some unfeeling heartless bastards out there.

It's bloody awful isn't it. Now of all times- "Well, I could afford to feed them, when I had them. But then we had the longest period of wage stagnation since the napoleonic wars, a decade of austerity, and now we're having a massive recession due to coronavirus and loads of people are either losing jobs or losing wages. And we're about to add brexit on top of that. So should I travel back in time and warn my past self not to have kids because despite my hard work the economy's going to get tanked by stuff totally beyond my control?"

I wonder how much worse it has to get before the Us Vs Them starts to break down.

https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson_MP/status/1349100593193897986

£3/day is enough for a great kids lunch at supermarket prices

That’s a prepackaged sandwich / pasta bowl / sushi etc , snack and a drink at a supermarket. Does for me if I need a lunch out and about.

letter to local MP (labour so there is bot all she can really do)

What’s the point ? Our local self serving Tory MP doesn’t have a mind of his own , just does what his bosses higher up tells him to do anyway.
There’s probably a good reason why his office is just round the corner from the local Nick

See you next Tuesdays.....

Yay. Go UK!

Another day another Tory scandal https://imgur.com/gallery/Gbfylqt

I saw all this kicking off yesterday.

There are those who think that the money will go on booze and fags and not food for kids. Yeah OK, maybe there are a few who will exploit the scheme. But that's a flaw in the scheme, not a flaw in the people who may desparately need the money.

However, when you give the money to those who need it directly, they won't be spending some of it on the costs of procurring the food. They won't be paying someone to pick and pack the food, send it to their house. They go to a shop and spend it on the food they need.

the efficiencies of privatization in action

why have the state spend the money directly (which is effectively what vouchers were doing?)
when you can involve a chain of contractors and subcontractors, all of who think they should be able to cream 51% off as profit.

I find it wildly frustrating that in these situations (this one, and many like it, PPE for example), no one has actually broken any laws. The scumbag at the top of Chartwell, along with a few layers of management below them, should have their heads on spikes.

pjm60 that response on Twitter is funny- “Well, yeah it’s £5 of food but we only charged £10.50 not £30, so #BLOWN!”

What do you think it costs to buy, package and deliver the £5 of food, while paying workers, buildings etc etc and make a margin while paying all relevant taxes?

Seems the answer is nearly £5 per parcel.

The real question, is where has the £19.50 gone?

This is a proper failure -and it reflects the culture in our public services and politicians leading it.

FFS Matt, please don’t tar civil servants with he same brush as the Tory scum.

https://twitter.com/Christian4BuryS/status/1349113372386717696?s=19

From my Tory MP

My former labour MP (like Harry in Bury South we also have a new, useless Tory) posted this up. This is what is presently going out to parents in Bury. Its an absolute insult. Someone is making an awful lot of money, profitting from other peoples misery. How very Tory.

https://twitter.com/JamesFrith/status/1349018460068712453?s=20

@intheborders - not sure if you're misunderstanding Chartwells' Twitter response and/or my post but:
1. Yes all the admin/packaging/delivery/tax/margin/whatever might really amount to more than the cost of the food here (£5). I do not retract my LOL.
2. The "£19.50" suggested initially is presumably still with the government and hasn't "gone" anywhere.

Edit: I think/hope we agree £5.50 on top of £5 (>100%) of food is stupid from a VfM PoV. The half onions and little bits of (presumably weighed out) pasta seem crazy.

and hasn’t “gone” anywhere

Well, it hasn't "gone" to the parents struggling to feed their kids, that's for sure.

Where's the Spam?

https://twitter.com/theousherwood/status/1349331054746857476?s=20

I’d describe myself as financially conservative but socially progressive, and a remainer; so you can see how my loyalties are torn.

That's pretty much the demographic of the forum.

This was always a job for those experts in supply. The supermarkets would have done a fine job if asked. Save people the trouble of hunting for products in the store. Make up standard package. Use economies of scale. Deliver as needed via their services. It's what they do. I bet they weren't asked.

Morrisons did something in the first Lockdown, I believe.

Yeah, we used the Morrisons (paid for) food boxes in the first lockdown, and they were far more nutritious and bountiful than those Chartwell boxes (they didn’t deliver via their own services though, but rather ice packed boxes via courier). And I shared a Manchester supplier of boxes for school dinners earlier in the thread that are doing a great job… they are forgoing a profit though. Not sure how it’s preferable to parents being given the funds to buy food for their kids though… funny how the Conservatives moan about the “Nanny State” one minute, but seek to remove agency from parents the next.

2. The “£19.50” suggested initially is presumably still with the government and hasn’t “gone” anywhere.

@twowheels

Which bit of Govt procurement mismanagement/corruption during 2020 passed you by?

My mum could do better, shes in her 80s.
For most of her working life she ran a school kitchen for 5 to 12 year olds
Plus the were the hub for 4 other smaller primary schools where the food was delivered hot in latge alumimium trays
Pre Jamie putting his oar im she had a buget of around 90p per head per day.
Hence why Turkey Twizzers, semolina, mash potatoes had to be on the menu. The money simply wasnt there for anything extravagant.

This skills are still there, the supply chains in place. You may need to re purpose school dinner ladies into box packers but they are on short hours n. m. w. Contract or furloghed.
Zip lock bags, ppe and some labels.
Get on with it.

I think this is how the conversation would probably go with any of the Tory MP's ( apart from a small handfull )

Warning, Piers Morgan Content 😉

https://twitter.com/GMB/status/1349281032646881280

https://twitter.com/i/status/1349281812657430529

My Tory MP is busy retweeting self-styled bread detectives who are pointing out that these pictures might be fake.

Such a strange petty man.

Which bit of Govt procurement mismanagement/corruption during 2020 passed you by?

Haha depressingly little I think. Mismanagement/corruption/cronyism are different to money simply vanishing though so I don't get your point. If you're saying the Chartwells claim (of billing us £10.50 for 5 days) is a lie that's fine, no issues 🙂 But it would be a double lie- i.e. food for 5 days (not 10) and £10.50 (not £15.00) and that should be easier to check.

Just to be clear I support FSM and think even £10.50 (let alone £30) for £5 of supermarket food is poor value for my investment in society. On other hand, transparency can also be lacking on the left as well as right (yes I am still scarred from Corbyn's traingate affair :p)

https://twitter.com/bootstrapcook/status/1349304259301548033?s=21

Anyone got more info?

What's that sound I hear? Must be another screeching BoJo u-turn after having his arse handed to him in PMQ's as the government's own guidance on what constituted a reasonable food parcel was dangerously close to that provided by Chartwell

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/13/fresh-u-turn-over-free-school-meals-as-labour-criticises-guidance-on-parcels

Looks like once again the governemnt have been shamed into action by Marcus Rashford

https://twitter.com/marisajbate/status/1349311903579975681?s=20