Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for the department for Education, whether his Department plans to introduce food insecurity into the school curriculum.

The Government is committed to addressing food insecurity, particularly for children. Our eligibility criteria for free school meals support children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds by providing a free and healthy school meal each day. Including food insecurity in the National Curriculum is a recommendation arising from the Children’s Future Food Inquiry. We welcome this report and will reflect carefully on it over the coming months and consider how we can best respond to the important issues raised.

The National Curriculum on design and technology in secondary schools covers cooking, emphasising the importance of this as a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well. The National Curriculum for citizenship in secondary schools sets out that teaching should prepare pupils to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions, and plan for future financial needs. From primary school through to secondary, the mathematics National Curriculum covers money and how mathematics is necessary for financial literacy.