Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to review his decision not to update the Schools Foods Standards during the covid-19 outbreak when covid-19 restrictions in England are lifted; and if he will make a statement.

We are aware of the Climate Change Committee recommendation of January 2020. The issue of balancing meat and plant-based meals was discussed by the expert advisory group in place for the school food standards update. Due to the priority of responding to the COVID-19 outbreak and the pressures on schools this presents, and considering the robustness of the existing standards, the government will not be taking further action during the course of the COVID-19 outbreak on updating the school food standards. We do however keep this position under review.