Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 56W, on soft drinks: schools, what proportion of (a) academies and (b) free schools have made a voluntary commitment to adhere to the school food standards regulations.

During their review of school food, the authors of the School Food Plan approached several academy chains, including the Harris Federation, the Oasis Community Learning Multi-Academy Trust, and the School Partnership Trust. All agreed in principle to comply with the standards, and representatives from the Leon Foundation will be attending the Academies Show on 30 April with a view to encouraging as many academies and free schools as possible to sign up formally to the new standards.

99% of those academies which responded to a survey by the School Food Trust in 2012 said they were committed to following the new food standards. All academies and free schools signing their funding agreements from spring 2014 are required to adhere to the new, less bureaucratic school food standards.