Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to ensure the provision of non-dairy milk products in (a) schools and (b) other early-years learning environments.

The government’s School Food Standards (SFS) regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and other times of the school day. Although schools are required to make milk available, the SFS (Schedule 1) also enables schools to provide a variety of other drinks including plain soya, rice or oat drinks enriched with calcium and combination, and flavoured variations of these drinks to suit particular medical, dietary and cultural needs. School food policies work best when schools discuss them with parents and pupils, so that parents can raise pupils’ particular dietary needs.

There is a requirement within the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework that all registered early years settings must ensure that: ‘where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, they must be healthy, balanced and nutritious’. The EYFS also states that before a child is admitted to the setting the provider must also obtain information about any special dietary requirements, preferences and food allergies that the child has, and any special health requirements.

The department believes that schools and early year settings are best placed to make decisions about their food policies, taking into account local circumstances and the needs of their children. In doing so, the department expects settings to make reasonable adjustments for children with particular requirements, for example to reflect dietary and cultural needs.