Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will conduct a review of the funding model for school meals in (a) locally maintained and (b) Multi Academy Trust schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
An uplift to the per-meal rate for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and further education (FE) free meals was announced on 4 December 2024. The uplifted meal rate will be increased from £2.53 to £2.58 for 2024 to 2025, backdated to the start of the academic year.
To support the provision of benefits-related free school meals (FSM), the government provides funding at £490 per eligible FSM pupil per year as a factor value within the national funding formula. This value will be increasing to £495 per eligible FSM pupil in 2025/26. UIFSM and FE free meals are funded separately through a direct grant to schools and colleges. As with all government programmes, we will keep our approach, including for FSM, under continued review.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take further steps to ensure that Government Food Standards are adhered to in (a) locally maintained and (b) Multi Academy Trust schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and at other times of the school day.
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.
To support governors in their role around compliance, the department, along with the National Governance Association, is running a pilot online training course on school food for governors and trustees. This launched on 4 November 2024 and will run until 1 April 2025. This will help governors to improve their understanding of the standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their whole school approach to food. The department will evaluate the training programme’s reception and effectiveness in the short term.
Additionally, the department and the Food Standards Agency, along with support from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, ran a pilot with 18 local authorities during the 2022/23 academic year to find out whether food safety officers were able to ensure the compliance of School Food Standards when carrying out routine food hygiene inspections in schools. Analysis of the final phase has now been completed, and the final report was published August 2024.
We will keep our approach to the School Food Standards and our approaches to compliance under continued review.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce the rates that will be paid to (a) locally maintained and (b) Multi Academy Trust schools for universal infant free school meals this academic year.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
An uplift to the per-meal rate for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and further education (FE) free meals was announced on 4 December 2024. The uplifted meal rate will be increased from £2.53 to £2.58 for 2024 to 2025, backdated to the start of the academic year.
To support the provision of benefits-related free school meals (FSM), the government provides funding at £490 per eligible FSM pupil per year as a factor value within the national funding formula. This value will be increasing to £495 per eligible FSM pupil in 2025/26. UIFSM and FE free meals are funded separately through a direct grant to schools and colleges. As with all government programmes, we will keep our approach, including for FSM, under continued review.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the guidance entitled School food standards: resources for schools, published on 26 March 2019, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure that this guidance is being followed in all (a) locally maintained and (b) multi-academy trust schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and at other times of the school day.
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.
To support governors in their role around compliance, the department, along with the National Governance Association, is running a pilot online training course on school food for governors and trustees. This launched on 4 November 2024 and will run until 1 April 2025. This will help governors to improve their understanding of the standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their whole school approach to food. The department will evaluate the training programme’s reception and effectiveness in the short term.
Additionally, the department and the Food Standards Agency, along with support from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, ran a pilot with 18 local authorities during the 2022/23 academic year to find out whether food safety officers were able to ensure the compliance of School Food Standards when carrying out routine food hygiene inspections in schools. Analysis of the final phase has now been completed, and the final report was published August 2024.
We will keep our approach to the School Food Standards and our approaches to compliance under continued review.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that children born prematurely are not disadvantaged in education.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure the best start in life for every child, including those who are born prematurely.
The early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years providers must follow. The EYFS is clear that every child is unique and that they develop and learn at different rates. It also describes the importance of responding to children’s individual interests and needs. Being born prematurely is not classified as a special educational need or a disability, however, when a premature child does need special educational needs and disability support, schools and early years settings are encouraged to identify and support them early as possible.
The investment announced at Budget to rebuild school buildings, alongside funding for children’s social care, breakfast clubs and early years, reflects the government’s commitment to putting education back at the forefront of national life.