Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce pupils’ access to sugary drinks and (b) support provision of healthier drink options throughout the school day.

The School Food Standards set the mandatory nutritional framework for food and drink provided in state‑funded schools in England. Since the Standards were introduced in 2014, the dietary recommendations on free sugar, fibre and sweeteners have changed and the proportion of children living with obesity is high.

The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever, so we are consulting on proposed updates to the School Food Standards in England to ensure that all food served at school better reflects current nutritional guidance and supports children’s health, wellbeing and learning.

The consultation is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/school-food-standards-updating-the-legislative-framework.

As part of our proposals, we are consulting on removing fruit juice and combination drinks from school meal services. We are also proposing to limit available drinks to water, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, lactose free milk and certain plant-based drinks, with a restricted range of low or no sugar drinks permitted in secondary schools.