Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2020 to Question 51681, what progress he has made with Public Health England on updating School Food Standards based on refreshed Government dietary recommendations.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We already have very robust school food standards set in legislation, which require school caterers to serve healthy and nutritious food and drinks, to ensure children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. We are working closely with schools to ensure these are consistently followed.
As schools and their kitchens are now open, healthy and nutritious meals are available for all pupils. We have asked schools to work with their existing suppliers to provide meals or food parcels to pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals where they are self-isolating. LACA and Public Health England have published advice to schools to help them prepare healthy food parcels, which is available here:
https://laca.co.uk/laca-view/free-school-meals-guidance-producing-food-parcels.
Due to the priority of responding to the COVID-19 outbreak, and considering the robustness of the existing standards, the government has no further plans to update the School Food Standards.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on prioritising covid-19 testing for children without covid-19 symptoms who are asked to remain at home as a result of a positive covid-19 case being confirmed in their school bubble.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is vital that children and school staff only get a test if they develop symptoms of COVID-19, with the exception of those who have specifically been asked to do so by a clinician. The test is most effective for those who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. The latest clinical advice is that testing of individuals without symptoms should be used where clinically appropriate, predominantly for outbreak investigation and infection control. This risk based approach is essential to ensure testing is targeted where it is most effective.
Testing capacity is the highest it has ever been, but there is currently a significant demand for tests. The NHS Test and Trace system must stay focused on testing those with true symptoms of COVID-19.? Anyone who is self isolating as a result of being a close contact of a confirmed case but does not have symptoms should not request a test. This includes if that case was identified in a school or college. All children who are attending an education or childcare setting have access to a test if they display symptoms of COVID-19 and are encouraged to get tested.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether an early years provider can require a child to self-isolate for 14 days before attending its premises after they visit an area in the UK affected by a local lockdown.
Answered by Vicky Ford
In the event that a parent or guardian insisted on a child being at a childcare provider, providers can take the decision to refuse the child if in their reasonable judgement it is necessary to protect their children and staff from infection with COVID-19. Any decision would need to be carefully considered in light of all the circumstances and the public health advice. Children and staff should not attend the setting if they have COVID-19 symptoms or have tested positive in the last 10 days.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support the families of pupils on free school meals in Bristol East during the school summer holidays in 2020.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave on 23 June 2020 to Question 54195.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued during the covid-19 outbreak on the provision of informal childcare by (a) people who are not in the stringent social distancing category and (b) people over 70 years of age without underlying health problems.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We have issued guidance on formal childcare which can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.
Informal childcare can be provided where the person undertaking the childcare lives as part of the same household as the parents or carers, in line with the government's guidance on staying alert and safe (social distancing) for COVID-19:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing.
The following government guidance on shielding and protecting extremely vulnerable persons should also be taken into consideration:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19.
Frequently asked questions have also been published on what people can and cannot do during COVID-19:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations he has received on revising the school food standards to remove the requirement to serve animal products.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options and to make sure that children receive the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools. We also expect all academies and free schools to comply with the standards and, since 2014, we have made this an explicit requirement in their funding agreements.
Beyond this, we believe that headteachers, school governors and caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies, taking into account local circumstances and the needs of their pupils. In doing so, we expect schools to make reasonable adjustments for pupils with particular requirements (for example, to reflect dietary and cultural needs).
As part of our last update to the School Food Standards, we ran a public consultation on the new regulations between 6 March and 16 April 2014. The new standards were tested by 31 schools and 24 caterers from across England, overseen with positive outcomes by a group of school catering experts and nutritionists. These outcomes were fed into the proposed version of the standards that went out for public consultation in March 2014.
We are currently working with Public Health England to update the School Food Standards again in light of refreshed government dietary recommendations. We have an advisory group in place to support us with this work. It is comprised of key stakeholders in the food, nutrition and health sectors who have a high level of knowledge and expertise on school food.