Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the timeline for reviewing school food standards.

We are consulting on proposed updates to the School Food Standards in England to ensure that all food served at school, including breakfasts and lunches, better reflect current nutritional guidance and support children’s health, wellbeing and learning. The consultation will run for 9 weeks, closing on 12 June 2026 and full details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/school-food-standards-updating-the-legislative-framework.

We want to give schools and caterers time to plan for these changes. Following the consultation, we will announce the new School Food Standards in September this year, before they are enforced from September 2027.

We propose that the new standards take full effect for primary schools from September 2027. Most changes for secondary schools will also begin in September 2027. However, there are some requirements that we propose to phase in for secondary schools, including adding pulses to menu options, limiting cheese-based main dishes, restricting sweetened baked products and desserts, and introducing the healthier drinks list. These would start from September 2028.