Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for (a) Education and (b) Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential merits of the provision of water bottles to school children for use in and out of school.

The Secretary of State regularly meets with other Cabinet colleagues to discuss a variety of topics pertaining to health and social care. The School Food Standards state that drinking water must be provided free of charge at all times to registered pupils on the school premises. It is the responsibility of the headteacher and the governing board to decide when water should be made available as part of the day to day running of the school.

Where a parent is concerned about access to drinking water at their school, they should in the first instance contact the school to resolve the issue. If they are not happy with the result of this conversation, they can make a complaint through the school’s own complaints procedure.

As part of the 25 Year Environment Plan the Government has set an ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. Many schools have responded to this by encouraging their pupils to use reusable bottles for their water, instead of single use plastics.