Thank you for contacting me about school food.
I believe it is imperative that children have regular healthy and balanced meals throughout the day to ensure they are able to thrive in the classroom. The Government is also keenly aware of the impact that the cost of living crisis is having on families across the country.
The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 set out guidance on how schools should provide children with healthy food and drink options to get the necessary energy and nutrition throughout the school day, including that meat or poultry must be offered on three or more days each week, and that milk must be available for drinking every day. Schools must also do all they can to make free water visible and easily available. The Government continues to promote compliance with the School Food Standards and will keep this under review.
In 2022, the Levelling Up White Paper outlined plans to strengthen adherence by: trialling coordination with the Foods Standards Agency; providing funding of up to £200,000 for a pilot Governor Training Scheme; and encouraging schools to set out their whole school approach to food in a statement on their website. The Government is encouraging schools to respond to feedback from parents about their school meals provision and to act reasonably to ensure the needs and beliefs of their school community are being met.
Over two million pupils are currently eligible for benefits based free school meals. Close to 1.3 million additional infants receive free and nutritious meals under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) policy.
The Department spends over £1 billion each year on free school meals, including through the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme and school breakfast clubs. This includes around £600 million on UIFSM. In June 2022, the Government allocated £18 million of additional funding for UIFSM to help schools provide for the 1.25 million children in reception, Year 1 and Year 2 with a free, healthy and nutritious lunch, in recognition of the rising cost of living.
The Government funds over £200 million a year on HAF, which provides healthy meals and holiday club places to children from low-income families. In the summer of 2022, the HAF programme reached around 600,000 children across England, including over 475,000 children eligible for free school meals. The Government is allocating £30 million over two years for the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP), which benefits over 2,000 schools across the country. Family Action estimates that 270,000 children are currently receiving breakfast from the NSBP on an average school day.
As announced in the Autumn Statement, for those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion to help with the cost of household essentials, for the 2023-24 financial year, on top of what has already been provided since October 2021, bringing total funding for this support to £2.5billion.