Children’s Future Food Report

Debate between Nadhim Zahawi and Lord Field of Birkenhead

Thursday 27th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Nadhim Zahawi)]

I congratulate the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Frank Field) on securing this important debate and thank all colleagues who participated in the inquiry, including the hon. Members for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) and for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford). We have heard contributions from my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) and the hon. Members for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth), for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson).

I welcome the hon. Member for Croydon North (Mr Reed) to his role as shadow Minister for children and families. We may come to our roles from different policy perspectives, but we share a passion for wanting to do the best for the children and families whom we ultimately serve.

I know that hon. Members in the Chamber have a sincere and long-held interest in this area. The right hon. Member for Birkenhead was a member of the inquiry, and I thank him for his work and his continued significant contribution to shaping my tenure in office and, of course, to children’s health and wellbeing.

The inquiry’s report is the result of a detailed and thorough examination of how we ensure that all children and young people have access to healthy and nutritious meals. I extend my thanks to all the children, young people, practitioners and, of course, researchers who were involved in its production. I also thank the many hon. Members on both sides of the House, and colleagues in the other place, for their contributions to this important work.

I was pleased to attend the launch of the report in April, at which I was truly privileged to be fortunate enough to meet some of the young food ambassadors in person. I was moved by their experiences, and impressed by their confidence and clarity in setting out how they will continue to make an impassioned contribution in this area. I look forward to continuing my engagement with them.

The Government share the inquiry’s overarching aims. All children should be able to access healthy, nutritious food at home and at school, as that is an essential part of building a country that works for everyone and in which every child and young person can reach their potential. The Government are already taking many steps to support children in accessing nutritious food and leading healthy lives. Of course, I recognise that there is much more that we need to do and can do.

When I spoke at the launch of the report back in April, I committed to providing a formal response in the autumn school term. Earlier this month, I again met representatives from the inquiry to discuss the recommendations further, and I have asked my team to work with the Food Foundation, including on exploring how we might provide greater oversight of children’s food by involving the inquiry’s young food ambassadors, as well as with other relevant Government Departments —my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton mentioned cross-Government work earlier.

I look forward to providing that formal response in the coming months. In the meantime, I wish to highlight some immediate actions we are taking. On 7 June, I wrote to all schools in England to highlight the inquiry’s findings and to remind them of their responsibilities in relation to school food. Many schools are, of course, already delivering excellent practice in this area, including through creative menu options and a focus on healthy eating across the curriculum, and by making it easy for children to enjoy free school meals.

In my letter to schools, I highlighted the importance of creating a positive lunchtime experience by ensuring that dining areas are welcoming places and by giving children a genuine voice in shaping this provision. I also stressed that no child should be stigmatised because they are eligible for free school meals—the right hon. Member for Birkenhead is passionate about that—and that there should be no limit on the healthy meal choices available to these children. I also described my shock on hearing from some young people that they do not have access to free drinking water at school and often have to buy a bottle of water, as the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth) mentioned. Schools are legally obliged to provide access to free drinking water on the school premises at all times, as I made very clear in my letter.

[Frank Field]

The Minister has quickly gone on to the important topic of having free water in schools, but was he also shocked about how poorer children—we do not know how many—lose entitlement if they are not in school on a given day, as the credit on their card for a free school meal is cancelled? I hope the National Audit Office will be looking at this issue; will he and the Department also do so?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that point. I intend to address that matter later in my remarks.

Finally, my letter highlighted the range of resources and guidance that is available for schools, including on meeting the mandatory school food standards and supporting children on free school meals, and curriculum resources for schools to help children to lead healthier lives. The Government have recently taken significant action to ensure that all children can access healthy food at school and beyond.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nadhim Zahawi and Lord Field of Birkenhead

Monday 24th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

May I add my congratulations, Mr Speaker, on your 10 years in the Chair?

The consultation will be published very, very shortly.

[Frank Field (Birkenhead) (Ind)]

When do the Government expect to announce a national free school dinner scheme for poorer children during the holidays, based on the successful pilots the Department has been running over the past two years?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, who helped to make sure those pilots happened. We are investing £9 million in holiday activities and food programmes. This summer, children in 11 local authorities will receive healthy meals, learn about the importance of healthy eating and enjoy enriching physical activities during the summer holiday. Decisions on the programme beyond March 2020 will be taken as part of the spending review, but I certainly think it has been a great success.

School Holidays (Meals and Activities) Bill

Debate between Nadhim Zahawi and Lord Field of Birkenhead

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 19th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Nadhim Zahawi)]

Will you, Madam Deputy Speaker, pass on our birthday wishes to Mr Speaker, as I understand it is his birthday today?

I congratulate the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Frank Field) on promoting this Bill and making such a clear case for change. As a new Minister, I hope that I am able to emulate his exemplary and tireless commitment to improving outcomes for disadvantaged families, and I wholeheartedly applaud his ongoing efforts in this area.

Let me set out what this Government have done to tackle poverty and disadvantage. Last April, the Government published their “Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families” strategy, which focused on measures that tackle the root causes of poverty and improve children’s welfare. Tackling poverty, and its root causes, is a key priority for this Government, and we know that for most people work represents the best route out of poverty. Unemployment has not been lower since 1975, and the proportion of workless households is at its lowest since records began. Our welfare reforms are working. Let me give an example. Analysis by the Resolution Foundation has shown that our national living wage lifted 300,000 out of low pay last year. That is the biggest uplift out of the lowest bracket since 1970.

We recognise, however, that there is more to do, and the Government are committed to delivering a country that works for everyone. I am, therefore, keen to work with the right hon. Gentleman and other stakeholders to help the most disadvantaged pupils to have access to activities and healthy meals during school holidays. That has the dual benefit of ensuring that children have access to healthy food and enabling them to gain skills and experiences that can unlock future opportunities.

My Department’s breakfast clubs programme is one area in which we are already exploring how we can tackle that issue. The programme will not only expand breakfast clubs in at least 1,500 disadvantaged schools; it will also promote innovation through projects that focus on addressing access and delivery barriers and improving the health and education outcomes of disadvantaged children. I also agree with the right hon. Gentleman that we must look at how best to ensure that the most disadvantaged pupils have access to activities and healthy meals during the school holidays.

I am, therefore, pleased to confirm today that the Government will launch research, as the right hon. Gentleman has requested, into how best to ensure that more children from disadvantaged families benefit from healthy meals and enrichment activities during the holidays, including through targeted pilots. The programme will include engagement with stakeholders and will enable us to assess the impact of Government intervention.

Where I differ with the right hon. Gentleman is in his belief that primary legislation is required to address the issue. I do not believe that that is the case. Moreover, it would not be sensible to impose a duty on local authorities to deliver such provision until we have more evidence about the scale of the issue, the most effective ways of tackling it, and, of course, the costs and burdens associated with doing so.

The Government therefore oppose this private Member’s Bill. However, as I have already confirmed, the Government will support the right hon. Gentleman’s proposal to investigate the best way to ensure that the most disadvantaged children have access to activities and healthy meals in the school holidays. The research programme will include funding for a targeted pilot programme, as he and I have discussed. That will allow the Government to consider if and how they should intervene in the long term. That programme of work will focus on the best and most cost-effective ways to address the issue, with an emphasis on securing the best possible value for money.

We will ensure that we do that by maximising the use of existing resources and focusing on targeting those areas in greatest need, building on the good work that is already under way in many local communities. However, only once the findings from the evaluation are available will it be possible to reach an informed view about next steps. We will want to consider these findings carefully, taking account of value for money. Before we have the evidence, it would not be right for me to make any commitment today to further action, either in terms of introducing a national policy or placing a duty on local authorities to offer such provision along the lines proposed by the right hon. Gentleman’s Bill.

[Frank Field]

I entirely understand why the Minister does not want to go down a primary legislative route, but the main aim of the Bill was to invite the Government to match the extraordinary efforts of the voluntary sector and undertake their own pilots. Equally important, however, is the research side. We need to understand what is the best way of delivering this service to poorer children, and also to understand the educational consequences of such a programme. I hope that, in the not too distant future, we shall be ready to greet the Minister when he rises to introduce his own Bill based on the pilots and the research. As he knows, there is massive support for my Bill on both sides of the House, not least his own side.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for dealing with this issue through an evidence-led strategy. He agrees with the Government that we need to conduct the research and the pilots in order to understand what is happening.