Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing the provision of the Nursery Milk Scheme to finish at the end of the reception academic year rather than when individual children reach the age of five.

The Nursery Milk Scheme allows early years childcare settings, such as childminders and nurseries, to reclaim the cost of providing one-third of a pint of milk to children under five years old, who attend their childcare setting for at least two hours per day. Schools are also allowed to claim under this scheme, in respect of pupils under the age of five years old. There are no current plans to extend the scheme to cover other school pupils.

The School Food Standards require lower-fat or lactose free milk to be available in all schools. From the age of five years old onwards, pupils eligible for benefits-based free school meals are also eligible for free school milk. In addition, the school milk subsidy scheme subsidises the cost of milk and certain milk products for children in primary and secondary schools, including over five-year-olds. This means that participating schools can sell the products in schools at a lower price. More information on this scheme is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-milk-subsidy-scheme