Dad questions pay system in schools

BAD SYSTEM? School meals are one of the services which are paid for using ParentPay.

A father has spoken out over a cashless system used to pay for school dinners and trips.

The company ParentPay provides software to schools and local authorities to manage online payments.

Andy Beelby’s 11-year-old son left Dewsbury’s St Joseph’s Primary School to join Huddersfield’s All Saints, both of which use the service and stopped allowing him to pay by cash or cheque.

Mr Beelby, of Track Mount in Batley, fears that schools are adopting the system too hastily across Kirklees.

“What this means is parents have had the ability to choose how to use their money removed from them,” he said.

“It’s important that we maintain that and an organisation shouldn’t just be allowed to just decide which method of payment can’t be used.

“I don’t want to be part of a system that collects my money and details and information about my children.”

A computer safety expert of 25 years, Mr Beelby does not use online banking. He said that schools using ParentPay additionally is a good idea, but their refusal to take other tender has him “incensed.”