Unless a proposal by Deputy Geoff Southern is approved by the States on Tuesday, the subsidy will end in December this year.
His proposal recommends that Economic Development should take up the funding of school milk until the year 2005.
But both Economic Development and Finance and Economics, who have met the £184,000 annual cost this year, say that provision of school milk is not their responsibility, nor a priority in their budgets.Deputy Southern is unconvinced.
‘It must be the responsibility of EDC because the dairy industry is going through change and needs this stability.
It should be maintained and it should come from the Economic and Development budget,’ he said.The Deputy then referred to a strategic review of the dairy industry in Jersey by Donald McQueen , a renowned dairy expert from Agri-Food Market Analysis, that strongly recommends that free school milk should continue for the next two years.Mr McQueen said today: ‘My recommendation is that there should be no undermining or removal of free school milk for two years.’
