KIRKLEES Council staff will have to make do without free food as spending cuts bite.

Bosses have told workers to bring packed lunches rather than rely on taxpayer-funded sandwiches.

And they have suggested that people going to meetings with council officers should be urged to bring their own food as well.

The council wants to slash its budget by £250m by 2015 to deal with the public spending freeze.

The cuts programme will see the Kirklees workforce drop from 11,200 to 9,700.

But council bosses have identified a “quick win” when it comes to cost-cutting – ending free lunches at Kirklees staff meetings.

Last year, the food bill for meetings was £120,000.

The council’s procurement manager Bob Kilcoyne emailed all staff on July 27 to inform them of the policy change.

The email was leaked to the Examiner.

It reads: “Many colleagues have suggested that a ‘quick win’ in efficiency savings would be to stop providing food at meetings involving council staff or people from partner organisations.

“From now on, you should not order food at any meetings with council or partner colleagues.

“You must agree any exceptions with your director beforehand.

“You can still offer Fairtrade tea and coffee at meetings. All our catering suppliers now only provide Fairtrade products to us.”

Mr Kilcoyne also suggests ways council staff can deal with the new policy.

He wrote: “Consider whether full day meetings are necessary or productive – can your meeting objectives be completed in half a day?

“Invite staff and visitors to bring their own food for meetings, especially at lunchtime.”

A Kirklees Council spokesman said the new move was formalising a policy which had already been put in place.

He said: “Food has only ever been provided for people who were working right through their lunch break or attending meetings outside of normal working hours.

“This has almost always taken the form of sandwiches or modest buffet items and it is important to stress that these figures relate to one of the biggest metropolitan councils in the country with a workforce of around 11,000.

“The amount spent per employee is approximately £10-£11 each year, but many meetings involve non-council staff who have travelled from other parts of the region or country.

“For many years in both the public and private sector, it has been common practice to provide food so that people can eat whilst continuing to work through what would otherwise be their own time.

“When the economic climate began to change at local, national and international level, many Kirklees staff took their own decision to make savings in this area.

“The change in practice spread quickly and was strongly encouraged by management, as well as being supported by staff right across the organisation.

“The message sent out this week has formalised a policy which was already largely established. It is part of our programme to look closely at all areas of expenditure in light of the huge challenges facing local government.”