THOUSANDS of Dorset pupils will sit down to a free hot school lunch this week, as the Government’s multi-million pound initiative comes into effect.

The new school term will see the Liberal Democrats’ free meals policy put to the test.

But children’s lunchtime experiences will depend on where they live; Dorset County Council and the Borough of Poole say their schools are “ready to go” but half of Bournemouth’s primary schools need more time to work on the logistics.

The initiative, lauded by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg as “one of the most progressive changes to our school system for a long time,” should see every child in reception, year one and year two receive a free school lunch.

Initially, the commitment was to a hot lunch but this was changed to nutritious when it became apparent some schools did not have the facilities to cook or even re-heat meals.

In Bournemouth, 12 primary schools will start the year by offering free packed lunches to some or all of its key stage one pupils. The council said all schools had incurred costs to implement the policy.

In Poole, all 24 eligible primary schools will be serving transported meals. The council was allocated a total of £274,000 capital funding for the initiative and allocated an extra £476,000 of its own funds to plug the shortfall between the Government’s contribution and the cost of the scheme.

But Dorset County Council said the £883,430 they had received from the Government had been sufficient to fund the provision of free school meals.

Food contractor Chartwells, who won a four-year contract to provide lunches to many schools across Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth, will be providing around 11,000 meals a day.