TODAY it emerged that schools in Bournemouth, Poole and wider Dorset could be further penalised in the school meals debacle.

The ongoing problems with the delivery of free school meals by Chartwells may mean govern-ment take-up targets are missed.

It sounds like a joke and is a somewhat laughable vicious circle – funding could be reduced if targets are missed.

But the councils say they are working with the Department for Education to explain the problems, so there’s hope that funding will not be affected.

It’d surely be unfair if it was.