National award recognition for Catering Service

Denbighshire County Council's Catering Service has been shortlisted for both "Best Performer" and "Most Improved Education Catering Service" through the APSE Performance Networks benchmarking programme, highlighting the exceptional work of school catering teams across the county.

These awards are presented through the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Performance Networks, one of the UK's leading local government benchmarking services.

APSE Performance Networks enables councils to compare the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of frontline services against other local authorities across the UK, providing independent assessment of performance and continuous improvement.

The dual recognition reflects the significant progress made by Denbighshire's Catering Service in delivering high-quality, nutritious school meals while maintaining excellent service standards and achieving strong performance against national benchmarks.

Hayley Jones, Principal Manager for Catering and Cleaning Services, said: "This recognition is a tremendous achievement and reflects the dedication and commitment of our catering teams working in schools every day. Being recognised as both a Best Performer and Most Improved Education Catering Service in these award categories demonstrates our focus on continuous improvement while delivering high-quality, nutritious meals that support pupils' health, wellbeing.”

Denbighshire's Catering Service provides thousands of meals to pupils each day and has continued to innovate and adapt to meet changing demands. The service has focused on improving meal quality, increasing uptake, supporting Welsh Government Healthy Eating in Schools initiative, promoting healthy eating, and ensuring value for money for schools, pupils and families.

The service's success has been driven by the commitment of catering management team, Cooks and Catering assistants across the county, supported by close collaboration with schools and a shared determination to provide the best possible experience for pupils of Denbighshire.

The APSE recognition acknowledges not only the service's strong overall performance but also the significant improvements achieved over recent years, demonstrating Denbighshire's commitment to delivering excellent public services.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Education, Families, Welsh Language, Culture and Heritage said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the service for this recognition. To be recognised nationally in both a Best Performer and Most Improved Education Catering Service category is testament to the hard work of our catering teams and the positive impact they make in schools across Denbighshire every day."