Anita Brown, who from 2023-24 was chair of LACA (now renamed The School Food People), has officially taken over as chair of the Public Sector Catering Alliance from Jayne Jones, who has stepped down from the role to become the inaugural chief executive of the Scottish Food Commission.
In her day job, Anita is the local government officer at Stockton-on-Tees Borough. She started as a school cook in what she calls ‘the days of endless budgets and no standards’.
Over the years Anita has seen lots of changes through Best Value and Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT). Stockton on Tees Borough Council provides school meals to 50 schools & academies across the borough meeting the needs of their diverse communities.
During her time as chair of LACA, the school meals industry dealt with difficult times with the cost of living crisis, problems with recruitment and added pressures coming from food supplies. Anita campaigned for increased free school meals funding equity across the UK’s four nations.
