Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children are not hungry at school.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department provides a range of support designed to ensure that children in schools are provided with healthy and nutritious meals throughout the school day.
The department is investing up to £35 million in the National School Breakfast Programme until the end of July 2025. This funding is supporting up to 2,700 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families are being offered free nutritious breakfasts at school to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn.
In addition to this, the department spends over £1 billion a year on free school meals, including £600 million for Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM). Under the benefits-based criteria, two million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for free meals. Close to 1.3 million additional infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the UIFSM policy in 2014. In total, over one third of pupils are in receipt of this crucial support, which is up from one in six in 2010.
Furthermore, the department provides over 2.2 million children in reception and Key Stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school through the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme.
The department supports the provision of nutritious food in schools through ‘The Requirements for School Food Regulations’ (2014), which require schools to provide children with healthy food and drink options and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.
Written Evidence May. 22 2024
Inquiry: Food, Diet and ObesityFound: FDO0041 - Food, Diet and Obesity Sustain Alliance for Better Food and Farming Written Evidence
Mentions:
1: Emma Lewell-Buck (Lab - South Shields) This is to help with the ever-increasing costs of fruit and vegetables, milk, formula milk and vitamins - Speech Link
2: Sarah Dyke (LD - Somerton and Frome) , veg, fish, dairy and eggs by up to 60%.The Healthy Start scheme provides pregnant women or pre-school-age - Speech Link
3: Helen Whately (Con - Faversham and Mid Kent) and vegetable consumption is lower among more deprived children, and that those children may be at risk - Speech Link
4: Helen Whately (Con - Faversham and Mid Kent) and online.For school-aged children, we have the school fruit and vegetable scheme and free school meals - Speech Link
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following a survey by the School and Public Health Nurses Association and the British Dental Association in June which showed that 65 per cent of health practitioners reported that children’s health had got worse over the last year as a result of hunger, what plans they have to address hunger and poor nutrition in children.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government understands concerns regarding food inflation and its impact on the current cost of living, and as such is providing support of over £94 billion over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 13.6% in the year to August 2023. This was down from 14.9% in July and a recent high of 19.2% in March 2023, which was the highest rate seen for over 45 years. This means that food prices are still increasing but at a slower rate than before.
Through the Healthy Food Schemes, the Government provides a nutritional safety net to those who need it the most. The three Healthy Food Schemes, namely Healthy Start, Nursery Milk and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, together help more than three million children. They support wider Government priorities on obesity and levelling up. The schemes help to support children and babies when they are at home, in childcare and in early years at school, and pregnant women. From April 2021, the value of the Healthy Start increased from £3.10 to £4.25, providing additional support to pregnant women and families on lower incomes to make healthy food choices.
The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme provides approximately 2.2 million children in Key Stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school. Around 419 million pieces of fruit and vegetables were distributed to children in 2022/2023. In addition, the Nursery Milk Scheme provides a reimbursement to childcare providers for a daily 1/3 pint portion of milk to children and babies.
Free school meals are provided to over one third of school children. This includes two million pupils who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals, making up 23.8% of all pupils, which is an increase from January 2021 when 1.7 million or 20.8% pupils were eligible. In addition, almost 1.3 million more infants enjoy a free and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of universal infant free school meals in 2014. A further 90,000 disadvantaged pupils in further education also receive a free meal at lunch time. Overall, we spend over £1 billion per annum delivering free lunches to a large proportion of school children.
The Government’s wider programme of work to create a healthier environment to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight includes:
- regulations which restrict the placement of products high in saturated fat, salt or sugar in store and online;
- efforts to reformulate products high in calories, sugar and salt;
- the Soft Drinks Industry Levy; and
- calorie labelling regulations for food sold in large out of home businesses.
Written Evidence May. 22 2024
Inquiry: Food, Diet and ObesityFound: FDO0039 - Food, Diet and Obesity Alexandra Rose Charity Written Evidence
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS figures showing a recent increase in hospital admissions for cases of (a) malnutrition and (b) nutritional deficiencies, published in The Guardian on 21 December 2023, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to (i) affordable and (ii) nutritious food.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Malnutrition is a complex condition, and it is unclear from hospital admissions data what the underlying causes are. Through our Healthy Food Schemes, the Government provides a nutritional safety net to those who need it the most. Healthy Start, Nursery Milk and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme together help more than three million children.
Mar. 13 2024
Source Page: Scottish Health Survey and health record dataFound: Scottish Health Survey and health record data
Mentions:
1: Lord Curry of Kirkharle (XB - Life peer) More fruit and vegetable consumption is essential if we are to improve the nation’s health. - Speech Link
2: Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Con - Life peer) Having left school at 17—I should have gone to university but I did not, and I do not mind that I did - Speech Link
3: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bshp - Bishops) They have raised beds and greenhouses, and grow fruit and veg. - Speech Link
4: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab - Life peer) Any strategic plan to increase fruit and vegetable production, for example, needs to be coupled with - Speech Link
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that (a) all food provided through the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is sourced at the highest quality and (b) healthy eating is promoted more widely in schools.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Suppliers of fruit and vegetables to the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme are required to adhere to all elements of law in the United Kingdom. They are required to supply produce which meets Government fresh fruit and vegetable marketing standards, and the standards set for the Red Tractor food assurance scheme for UK-sourced foods, or Globalgap, the international equivalent for fruit and vegetables sourced from outside the UK. Schools are encouraged to use the scheme as an opportunity to educate children about fruit and vegetables and to encourage the consumption of a healthy, balanced diet.
The standards for school food are set out in the requirement for School Food Regulations 2014 and are to ensure that schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. The Government encourages all schools to promote healthy eating and provide healthy, tasty, and nutritious food and drink. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, academies, and free schools.
The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day, including, for example, breakfast clubs, tuck shops, mid-morning break, vending and after school clubs.
Mentions:
1: Carson, Finlay (Con - Galloway and West Dumfries) fruit and vegetable producers. - Speech Link
2: Gougeon, Mairi (SNP - Angus North and Mearns) the fruit and vegetable aid scheme. - Speech Link
3: Burgess, Ariane (Green - Highlands and Islands) I am concerned about the payments to fruit and vegetable producer organisations. - Speech Link
4: Gougeon, Mairi (SNP - Angus North and Mearns) organisations that support our fruit and vegetable sector. - Speech Link