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1671363

registered interest
date	20/11/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the quality of school meals within (a) primary and (b) secondary education.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	2524
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2023 answer text <p>The standards for school food are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. The standards are designed to ensure that schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, academies and free schools in both primary and secondary settings. The Standards can be found at: <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made" target="_blank">https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The department believes that the current standards provide a robust yet flexible framework to ensure that pupils in England continue to receive high-quality and nutritious food that builds healthy eating habits for life. The department continues to keep the School Food Standards under review.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 28/11/2023 13:08:59 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1623968

registered interest
date	26/04/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she made of the potential impact of the School Food Standards on (a) children’s health and childhood obesity and (b) the Government’s net zero carbon strategy.
tabling member constituency	Bristol East
tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
uin	182811
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2023 answer text <p>Obesity is a complex problem caused by many factors. The Department of Health and Social Care launched ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ in July 2020. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity and takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan, including the ambition to halve the number of children living with obesity by 2030.</p><p>The Department for Education (the Department) wants pupils to be healthy and well nourished and encourages a healthy balanced diet and healthy life choices through school funding, legislation, and guidance. The Standards for school food are set out in The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. They are designed to ensure that schools provide pupils with healthy food and drink options, and to ensure that pupils get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.</p><p>The Department has committed to support schools to improve their sustainable practices on food. Schools can voluntarily follow the Department’s buying standards, which include advice about sustainable sourcing. The Department also recognises the importance of plant based foods from a health and environmental point of view. The School Food Standards already allow schools the freedom to provide plant based meals as needed.</p><p>The School Food Standards ensure the right foods are available for pupils every day. Schools are required to provide one or more portions of vegetables or salad as an accompaniment. One or more portions of fruit must be provided every day and at least three different fruits and three different vegetables each week. My right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, have not met on this matter.</p><p>The Department believes that the current standards provide a robust yet flexible framework to ensure that pupils in England continue to receive high quality and nutritious food, that builds healthy eating habits for life. The Department is keeping the standards under review.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 182812 question first answered 02/05/2023 12:42:32 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy

1623969

registered interest
date	26/04/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential effects on health of increasing the School Food Standards minimum requirement of one portion of vegetables or salad per day; and whether she has plans to review the School Food Standards.
tabling member constituency	Bristol East
tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
uin	182812
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2023 answer text <p>Obesity is a complex problem caused by many factors. The Department of Health and Social Care launched ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ in July 2020. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity and takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan, including the ambition to halve the number of children living with obesity by 2030.</p><p>The Department for Education (the Department) wants pupils to be healthy and well nourished and encourages a healthy balanced diet and healthy life choices through school funding, legislation, and guidance. The Standards for school food are set out in The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. They are designed to ensure that schools provide pupils with healthy food and drink options, and to ensure that pupils get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.</p><p>The Department has committed to support schools to improve their sustainable practices on food. Schools can voluntarily follow the Department’s buying standards, which include advice about sustainable sourcing. The Department also recognises the importance of plant based foods from a health and environmental point of view. The School Food Standards already allow schools the freedom to provide plant based meals as needed.</p><p>The School Food Standards ensure the right foods are available for pupils every day. Schools are required to provide one or more portions of vegetables or salad as an accompaniment. One or more portions of fruit must be provided every day and at least three different fruits and three different vegetables each week. My right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, have not met on this matter.</p><p>The Department believes that the current standards provide a robust yet flexible framework to ensure that pupils in England continue to receive high quality and nutritious food, that builds healthy eating habits for life. The Department is keeping the standards under review.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 182811 question first answered 02/05/2023 12:42:32 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy

1487629

registered interest
date	08/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to (a) monitor schools progress towards and (b) enforce the School Food Standards.
tabling member constituency	Twickenham
tabling member printed	Munira Wilson
uin	33009
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2022 answer text <p>The department supports the provision of nutritious food in schools via the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014: <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made" target="_blank">https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools including academies and free schools. School Governors have a responsibility to ensure compliance and can ask the headteacher for evidence that the school is compliant with the School Food Standards.</p><p> </p><p>In February 2022 the Levelling Up White Paper outlined what the department is doing to strengthen adherence with the School Food Standards, including investing up to £200,000 in a pilot Governor Training Scheme. We will also be running a joint project with the Food Standards Agency to design and test a new approach for local authorities in England, to help assure compliance with the School Food Standards. We will promote accountability and transparency of school food arrangements by encouraging schools to complete a statement on their school websites, which sets out their whole school approach to food. The reporting would be voluntary initially, with the intention that this will become mandatory when schools can do this effectively.</p><p> </p><p>The Healthy Schools Rating Scheme celebrates the positive actions that schools are delivering in terms of healthy living, healthy eating and physical activity, and supports schools in identifying further actions that they can take in this area. This voluntary rating scheme is available for both primary and secondary schools. Schools engage in a self-assessment exercise and receive their rating based on their responses to questions on subjects including compliance with the mandatory school food standards.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 13/07/2022 16:55:29 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4776 label Biography information for Munira Wilson

1419925

registered interest
date	04/02/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential relationship between the quality of school lunches and levels of eating disorders among people under 18.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Bell Ribeiro-Addy
uin	118617
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made on the potential relationship between school meal quality and levels of eating disorders among young people.</p><p>The school food standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options. Compliance with the school food standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, including academies.</p><p>The standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, which foods are restricted, and those which must not be provided. They apply to all food and drink provided to pupils on and off school premises and during an extended school day (up to 6pm), including school trips, breakfast clubs, tuck shops, mid-morning break, vending machines and after school clubs.</p><p>The relationships, sex and health education curriculum covers topics like body image and mental wellbeing and, at secondary level, teachers can choose to discuss eating disorders. In teaching RSHE, schools must have regard to the statutory guidance, available here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1019542/Relationships_Education__Relationships_and_Sex_Education__RSE__and_Health_Education.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1019542/Relationships_Education__Relationships_and_Sex_Education__RSE__and_Health_Education.pdf</a>.</p><p>To further build our understanding of eating disorders, the government is funding the Eating Disorders Genetic Initiative study with Kings College London and eating disorder charity, Beat, which aims to better understand what may lead to an eating disorder and how to improve the lives of patients.</p><p>Since 2016, investment in children and young people's community eating disorder services has risen every year, with an extra £53 million per year from 2021/22. This will enhance the capacity of the 70 new or improved community eating disorder teams covering the whole of the country.</p><p>We are providing more than £17 million this financial year to build on existing mental health support in schools and colleges. This includes £9.5 million to enable up to a third of schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead as part of our commitment to fund training for leads in all schools and colleges by 2025.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 09/02/2022 17:13:07 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4764 label Biography information for Bell Ribeiro-Addy

1365082

registered interest
date	01/11/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will implement a strategy to ensure that School Food Standards are met.
tabling member constituency	Stoke-on-Trent Central
tabling member printed	Jo Gideon
uin	67294
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/11/2021 answer text <p>We already have a robust set of regulations in place around food standards in schools, established by The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. These regulations apply to all food provided in schools making compliance mandatory for all maintained schools including academies and free schools.</p><p>School governors have a responsibility to ensure compliance and should appropriately challenge the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations.</p><p>Should parents that feel the standards are not being met at their child’s school may make a complaint using the school’s own complaints procedure.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 08/11/2021 13:15:52 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4817 label Biography information for Jo Gideon

1336584

registered interest
date	15/06/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 27 April 2021 to Question 186003 and to the Answer of 26 April 2021 to Question 914739, whether he took into account the Climate Change Committee recommendation of January 2020 for a reduction in beef, lamb and dairy consumption to tackle the climate crisis, following the advisory group discussions in 2019 of key stakeholders in the school food, nutrition and health sectors on updates to the School Food Standards; if he will make it his policy to publish a clarification in the existing School Food Standards for lunches in schools to highlight that the Standards allow schools the flexibility to provide plant-based food and drink options to pupils, in place of meat and dairy options, if there is a demand for them; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	16061
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/06/2021 answer text <p>We are aware of the Climate Change Committee recommendation of January 2020. The issue of balancing meat and plant-based meals was discussed by the expert advisory group in place for the school food standards update. Due to the priority of responding to the COVID-19 outbreak and the pressures on schools this presents, and considering the robustness of the existing standards, the government will not be taking further action during the course of the COVID-19 outbreak on updating the school food standards. We do however keep this position under review.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 16062 question first answered 22/06/2021 15:48:13 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1336585

registered interest
date	15/06/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to review his decision not to update the Schools Foods Standards during the covid-19 outbreak when covid-19 restrictions in England are lifted; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	16062
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/06/2021 answer text <p>We are aware of the Climate Change Committee recommendation of January 2020. The issue of balancing meat and plant-based meals was discussed by the expert advisory group in place for the school food standards update. Due to the priority of responding to the COVID-19 outbreak and the pressures on schools this presents, and considering the robustness of the existing standards, the government will not be taking further action during the course of the COVID-19 outbreak on updating the school food standards. We do however keep this position under review.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 16061 question first answered 22/06/2021 15:48:13 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1245686

registered interest
date	21/10/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements are in place to ensure that meals provided to pupils in (1) primary, and (2) secondary, schools meet national standards for nutritional value.
tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
uin	HL9452
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2020 answer text <p>The government spends over £550 million a year on in England, through the National Funding Formula, to ensure that 1.4 million disadvantaged children benefit from free school meals. A further 1.4 million infant pupils are also supported through universal infant free school meals.</p><p>The National School Breakfast Programme, running from March 2018 to March 2021, is supporting up to 2,450 schools in disadvantaged areas, at an overall cost to the government of approximately £35 million. Unit costs are commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be made available. Many schools operate their own breakfast club arrangements.</p><p>There is legislation in place that ensures schools provide meals to all pupils who want them, which should be provided free to those eligible for benefits-related free school meals or universal infant free school meals.</p><p>The Schools Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.</p><p>The standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, which foods are restricted, and those, which must not be provided. They apply to all food and drink provided to pupils on and off school premises and during an extended school day (up to 6pm), including school trips, breakfast clubs, tuck shops, mid-morning break, vending and after school clubs. The department’s advice is available here:<br> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england</a>.</p><p>A summary of the standards and a practical guide are available from the school food plan website at:<br> <a href="http://www.schoolfoodplan.com/resources/" target="_blank">http://www.schoolfoodplan.com/resources</a>.</p><p>I believe that the School Food Standards have been transformational in the way schools operate their meal services. We will be updating these standards to bring them into line with revised nutritional recommendations in due course, this work is currently paused due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.</p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge grouped question UIN HL9450 HL9451 question first answered 04/11/2020 17:41:58 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman

1184664

registered interest
date	12/03/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance on nutritional standards his Department issues to private contractors providing school meals.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool North and Cleveleys
tabling member printed	Paul Maynard
uin	28605
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2020 answer text <p>The School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.</p><p>Schools are responsible for their school meals service and how and where they choose to buy their produce. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools. We expect all academies and free schools to comply with the standards, and since 2014 we have made this an explicit requirement in their funding agreements.</p><p>Governors have a responsibility to ensure compliance and should appropriately challenge the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations. Guidance on the Standards, and further resources for schools, are available on GOV.UK.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 20/03/2020 13:24:34 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard