Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of schools' compliance with the School Food Standards.

It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and that schools comply with the school food standards.

School governors and trustees have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the school food standards and should work with the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations.

In November 2024, the department and National Governance Association launched an online training course on school food for governors and trustees. This training is designed to improve understanding of the school food standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their whole-school approach to food.

We continue to work with the Food Standards Agency following the findings of the compliance pilot run by the department and the Food Standards Agency during the 2022/23 academic year.

Additionally, to ensure the quality and nutritional value of meals, we are working with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance. As we revise the School Food Standards, we will consider approaches to compliance to ensure children get the healthy, nutritious meals they need.