Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to amend regulations to make the application of school food standards mandatory in all state-funded schools.

The School Food Standards, as set out in ‘The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014’, provide the legislative framework to ensure 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.

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.

The government made a commitment to update the standards in the Childhood Obesity Action Plan, and in 2019 we commissioned Public Health England to provide expert nutritional advice and develop proposed updates to the standards, incorporating feedback from an advisory group consisting of suppliers, schools, charities, nutritionists and other stakeholder organisations.