School canteens: town halls facing soaring prices – Le Monde

At the Johannes-Masset school, in Lyon, in May 2021. Despite inflation, the city has decided not to increase canteen prices at the start of the school year. JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP While inflation accelerated further in July, against a backdrop of repercussions from the war in Ukraine (+ 6% over one year), in France, parliamentarians ensured that local authorities did not are not forgotten. To enable them to cope with the rise in prices, but also with the revaluation of the active solidarity income (RSA, paid by the departments) and that of the index point for civil servants decided by the government, the deputies added a envelope dedicated to the amending budget, voted this summer. The text provides support of 430 million euros for the municipalities, 120 million euros for the departments and 18 million for the regions. The mayors will however have to juggle to keep their back-to-school budget, caught between the waltz of labels and the desire to avoid an explosion in the costs of public services. In particular those essential to the most modest of their constituents, such as the school canteen. Thus, in Lyon, there is no question of increasing prices for schoolchildren. “Of course, we are feeling the first effects of inflation on our budget, and we will have to take measures to adapt. But we rule out any repercussion on canteen prices: households are already in difficulty, we are not going to add to it, ”says Audrey Hénocque, first assistant for finance, public order and major events. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The fragile upturn in local government finances The environmentalist majority intends to preserve a major marker of its mandate, after having suffered controversy over menu changes, with a vegetarian alternative. Inflation, however, forced the municipality to a deliberation amending the budget in July, to deal with an increase in electricity and gas bills of 1 million euros. A sobriety plan and “targeted spending limits” are being considered. “Controlling costs” “I refuse to increase canteen prices when parents are already experiencing the consequences of inflation in their daily lives”, also affirms the mayor of Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du- Rhone), Sophie Joissains. For the elected (Union of Democrats and Independents), it is a question of offering “the certainty of a complete and balanced meal to children”, in an agglomeration which, despite its bourgeois reputation, counts, according to INSEE, 14% of households below the poverty line. Read also: Back-to-school allowance, exceptional bonus: what is the difference between the two devices? At the start of the school year, the prices will therefore be the same as those of December 2018. 13 euros”, calculates Sophie Joissains. “We make choices about our other expenses. And the fact of being in control [cuisine centrale municipalisée] allows us to better control these costs,” she explains. You have 49.81% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.