Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to fund the holiday activities and food programme on a permanent basis.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The future of the Holiday Activities and Food programme beyond the 31 March 2025 is subject to the next government Spending Review, which is taking place this autumn. The outcome of that process will be communicated in due course.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) monitor and (b) manage the standard of food provided by 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. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, academies and free schools. 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.
The government’s ambition is to source half of all food served in public sector settings from local producers or from growers certified to meet higher environmental standards, where possible. The government wants to use the purchasing power of the public sector food supply chain to lead the way and to set best practice in delivering our wider ambitions on sustainability, animal welfare, economic growth, nutrition and health. The government has also committed to supporting schools to improve the sustainability of school food. Schools can voluntarily follow the government buying standards, which include advice around sustainable sourcing.
Ministerial teams are working with department officials on plans to deliver the government’s manifesto commitments, including making quick progress to deliver breakfast clubs in every primary school. Our aim is to deliver better life chances for all, through a system which works for all. As part of this, as with all government programmes, we will keep our approach to school food under continued review.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the procurement of sustainable local food for school meals.
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. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, academies and free schools. 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.
The government’s ambition is to source half of all food served in public sector settings from local producers or from growers certified to meet higher environmental standards, where possible. The government wants to use the purchasing power of the public sector food supply chain to lead the way and to set best practice in delivering our wider ambitions on sustainability, animal welfare, economic growth, nutrition and health. The government has also committed to supporting schools to improve the sustainability of school food. Schools can voluntarily follow the government buying standards, which include advice around sustainable sourcing.
Ministerial teams are working with department officials on plans to deliver the government’s manifesto commitments, including making quick progress to deliver breakfast clubs in every primary school. Our aim is to deliver better life chances for all, through a system which works for all. As part of this, as with all government programmes, we will keep our approach to school food under continued review.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a citizens assembly to consider the future relationship between the UK and the EU.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has no plans to establish a citizens’ assembly to consider the future relationship between the UK and EU. We fully recognise the importance of maintaining an effective dialogue encompassing a broad range of views across civil society, including through the TCA Civil Society Forum and Domestic Advisory Group, as we work to reset our relationship with the EU.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on introducing auto-enrolment for Healthy Start vouchers.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Healthy Start scheme is kept under review. There have been no discussions with my Rt Hon. Friend, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on introducing auto-enrolment for Healthy Start.
The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old, from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins for pregnant women and children aged under four years old. Healthy Start now supports over 355,000 beneficiaries. This figure is higher than the previous paper voucher scheme.
The NHS Business Services Authority operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. All applicants to the Healthy Start scheme, where they meet the eligibility criteria, must accept the terms and conditions of the prepaid card at the point of application. As the prepaid card is a financial product and cannot be issued without the applicant accepting these terms, the NHS Business Services Authority is not able to automatically provide eligible families with a prepaid card. However, we remain open to all viable routes to improve uptake.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the report by the Food Foundation entitled Broken Plate Report 2023, published on 27 June 2023; and what steps he is taking to tackle misleading health claims on baby and infant food.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We face a childhood obesity crisis, and the Government is committed to raising the healthiest next generation ever. It is vital that we maintain the highest standards for foods consumed by babies and young children and ensure that claims made about infant food or drink are accurate and not misleading. This will help to better support parents and carers to make the best choices for feeding their young children.
The independent Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), for their 2023 report Feeding Young Children aged 1-5 years, recommended that foods, including snacks, that are high in salt, free sugars, saturated fat, or are energy dense, should be limited in the diets of children aged one to five years old, and that commercially manufactured foods and drinks marketed specifically for infants and young children are not needed to meet nutrition requirements.
This is why baby and infant foods are already subject to robust regulations which set nutrition and composition standards through the Processed Cereal-based Foods and Baby Foods for Infants and Young Children (England) Regulations 2003 and its parent Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 on food for specific groups.
Under our health mission and shift to prevention we are considering what further action is needed to respond to the SACN’s commercial baby food recommendations, in order to establish healthy habits as early as possible. We will continue to keep these regulations under review to ensure they reflect the latest scientific and dietary guidelines.