With a total focus on Every Child Matters and Healthy Food, Croydon and ParentPay worked with partner Nationwide Retail Systems to expand the project and now collect data to record what meals children have selected. During academic year 2008/9 online dinner money collection is expected to climb to in excess of £3.4 million. The project has increased the safety of Croydon’s school children, vastly reduced time spent on dinner money administration, increased the uptake of both paid and free school meals and removed cash collection vehicles from the busy streets of Croydon. Speaking at the event Prime Minister Gordon Brown said "The 2008 awards saw a record number of nominations from across the country - individuals, teams and organisations who are using new technologies in innovative and creative ways to deliver better public services. When times are tough, as they are now, it is more important than ever for government to work as smoothly and efficiently as possible, so it's good to see technology providing real efficiency gains at the same time as increasing the effectiveness of services."
