Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current school food standards in (a) promoting good health and (b) tackling obesity, malnutrition and other diet-related conditions among school pupils.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government encourages all schools to promote healthy eating and to provide tasty and nutritious food and drink. Compliance with the School Food Standards (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made) 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.
The School Food Standards came in to force from January 2015 and have been widely welcomed. As new advice on nutrition and sugar consumption has since been published, the Department for Education, supported by Public Health England, will update the School Food Standards. The update, which will be comprehensive on reducing sugar consumption, will be coupled with detailed guidance to caterers and schools so they are well prepared to adapt to the changes.
Healthy eating is also covered in health education that all schools will have to teach from this year, with voluntary teaching starting from last year. By the end of primary school, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet (including understanding calories and other nutritional content) and the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals. They should also know the characteristics of a poor diet and risks associated with unhealthy eating (including, for example, obesity and tooth decay) and other eating or drinking habits (for example, the impact of alcohol on diet or health). By the end of secondary school, pupils should know how to maintain healthy eating and the links between a poor diet and health risks.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the vouchers offered to children eligible for free school meals during school closures will include support to cover the costs of breakfast.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We have developed a national scheme to provide supermarket vouchers for children eligible for free school meals who are not attending school. Schools who chose to participate will not have to pay for these vouchers as the costs for this scheme will be picked up centrally by the Department for Education. Schools will have received an email as of Tuesday 31 March which will allow them to access the portal.
Schools are able to order a voucher to the value of £15 each week for every child eligible for benefits related free school meals who is not attending school. This is more generous than the weekly amount provided to schools for provision of free school meals, recognising that families will not buy in bulk and will therefore not be able to achieve the same economies of scale.
Alongside our national approach to supporting free school meal pupils, we are committed to supporting schools and children who also benefit from our breakfast club programme. Our suppliers, Family Action along with Magic Breakfast, are in contact with schools on the programme and, where possible, are working closely with them to reach children who would normally receive a healthy breakfast at school.
Full guidance on the national voucher scheme is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to respond to the recommendations of the Children’s Right2Food Charter.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
All children should be able to access healthy and nutritious food at home and at school. This is an essential part of building a country that works for everyone, and in which every child and young person can reach their potential.
We are supporting around 1.1 million of the most disadvantaged children through free school meals, saving families approximately £400 a year.
We invested in a £9 million holiday activities and food programme in summer 2019, and up to £26 million in a breakfast clubs programme.
We are continuing to reflect on the report and its recommendations and will set out our response in the autumn.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make available the scoring data of the respective bids for grant funding from the Holiday Activities and Food Programme 2019.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In December 2018, we announced £9 million for the 2019 Holiday Activities and Food programme. The department invited organisations to bid to take on the role of testing the coordination of free holiday provision for disadvantaged children in a local authority area during the 2019 summer holidays.
92 bids were received and on 8 May 2019, we announced the 11 organisations that had been successful in securing funding for this summer. Since then, officials have provided feedback to unsuccessful bidders, including the bid submitted for the Bristol area that was supported by the hon. Member for Bristol East. Any organisation that submitted an unsuccessful bid can request a breakdown of their scoring data by contacting the department.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, by how much local authorities overspent on the provision of children’s social care in the year ending 31 March 2018; and what assessment he has made of the future financial sustainability of local government children’s services departments based on current levels of overspend.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Local authorities are required under Section 251 of the ‘Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009’ to submit education and children’s social care budget and expenditure statements. This data is published in statistical releases annually. The most recent release shows local authorities had a difference of approximately £1 billion in 2017-18 when their planned spend is compared to their actual spend.
Funding for children’s services is made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement. We are in the final year of a multi-year settlement deal and have made £46.4 billion available this year for local services including those for children’s services. The government has also made £410 million available to local authorities this year specifically for adult and children social care.
My department is working with the sector, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and with HM Treasury, as part of our preparation for the next Spending Review, to understand the level of funding local government needs to meet demand and deliver statutory duties.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to monitor the use of isolation booths in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As part of Ofsted inspections, schools will be asked to provide records and analysis of any use of internal isolation. Ofsted inspectors will expect schools to have clear and effective behaviour policies that promote high standards of behaviour and are applied consistently and fairly. In reaching a judgement on pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare, inspectors will take account of a range of information, including schools’ use of internal isolation.
The Department does not collect or record information about schools’ use of internal isolation. The Department expects schools to develop their own policies and strategies for managing disruptive behaviour, according to their particular circumstances. To help schools develop effective strategies, the Department has produced advice for schools which covers what should be included in their behaviour policy. This advice can be viewed here:
The advice outlines how schools can adopt a policy which allows disruptive pupils to be placed in isolation away from other pupils. If a school uses isolation rooms as a disciplinary penalty, this should be made clear in their behaviour policy. As with other disciplinary penalties, schools must act lawfully, reasonably and proportionately in all cases, and must take account of any special education needs or disabilities pupils placed in isolation may have. The school must also ensure the health and safety of pupils.