Oral Answers to Questions

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Monday 22nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

1. What steps her Department is taking to improve the nutritional standards of school food.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Olivia Bailey)]

I am delighted to see the enthusiasm for our reforms to school food. We want children to enjoy eating tasty, healthy food at school. That is why we are updating school food standards for the first time in a decade and putting young people’s voices at the heart of our plans. We will publish the new standards in September alongside our record expansion of free school meals, driving down poverty and delivering a revolution in school food.

[Jim Dickson]

Mr Speaker, I know that looking at me you would never guess that my children are now well past school age, but when they were at school—long past Jamie Oliver’s campaign against turkey twizzlers—the school food served was still not as healthy as it should have been, so I am delighted by the Minister’s assurance that the Government have consulted on the first update to school food standards in a decade. I am, however, slightly puzzled by the phased approach to improving the drinks served in secondary schools until September 2028. Will the Government consider speeding up the timetable and moving towards alignment with primary schools, so that we do not miss a crucial opportunity to improve the health of our young people?

[Olivia Bailey]

Alongside updating the standards, we also want to support schools to implement them. That is why, alongside developing new governance and compliance proposals, it is right that we give schools the time they need to prepare and embed the new standards, including phasing some changes in secondary schools. The consultation on our proposals closed just over a week ago and we will consider all responses carefully.

--- Later in debate ---

[Olivia Bailey]

That is a critical question. This Government are determined to give every child the best start in life, and we are backing that commitment with record investment of £9.5 billion in early years. We have a huge ambition for the whole early years infrastructure, including Best Start family hubs and our early education and childcare review.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

T6. In Kent, the county council has adopted a community of schools model for the allocation of high-needs funding, but schools in Dartford are concerned that that has led to a situation in which access to funding is unfair, inconsistent and unpredictable. It has left them unable to plan for the future, because they cannot be confident about how much funding they will receive. Will the Minister look at the model that Kent county council has adopted to ensure that it conforms with the high-needs funding operational guidance and the dedicated schools grant condition?

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

Officials are meeting with Kent county council to understand the model. We are in favour of schools pooling resources to support children with special educational needs and disabilities, but there have to be safeguards. I would welcome the opportunity to speak further to understand my hon. Friend’s concerns.