I am always conscious that the council’s money is your money. When we spend your money, we have a duty to ensure we get good value, and also, when we can, we should support local businesses. When we are feeding Monmouthshire’s children, we have the opportunity not just to give them delicious, healthy meals but also use food from local producers.

One of the decisions made by the previous Conservative administration was to tie Monmouthshire into joint buying arrangements for food and drink with other Welsh councils. We continue to be part of that arrangement when it meets our needs.

As a result, when the supply of school milk was re-tendered last year, the contract was fairly awarded to a supplier from West Wales. Our previous local supplier, Raglan Dairy was unsuccessful. Of course, the Conservative councillors who had signed the regional procurement deal were first in line to object to its results!

Since then, recognising our needs have changed we looked again at how we could fairly and legally buy our milk from small suppliers in our county. As is our practice we worked in partnership. This time with local framers and Monmouthshire Food Partnership. Taking the responsibility back from the central team, we held ‘meet the buyer’ events for local suppliers, so that we understood their barriers to winning public contracts and what we could do differently to overcome them. We now not only have a new contract with Raglan Dairy for the supply of milk and non-dairy alternatives, but we also have local contracts for eggs and cream.

That’s just part of the changes we are making. We are buying more local vegetables and fruit for our primary schools, buying directly as well as through wholesalers. Our schools are teaching children more about where their food comes from and how to cook from scratch. I am proud of the work the Monmouthshire Food Partnership and MCC staff do in linking farmers to schools and supporting families and children to grow, cook and eat well. Like many of you who contact me, we want to see more local fruit and vegetables grown here, sold in our local markets and served in schools, hospitals, restaurants and in our homes.

Monmouthshire school meals are excellent, freshly cooked by skilled cooks in school kitchens and now free for primary-aged pupils. When children sit down to eat a hot meal together at lunchtime they get to socialise and to try new foods together with their friend. I would urge every parent and caregiver to take up the offer. Bon appetit!