Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what mechanisms exist to ensure that catering contracts agreed by schools and academies comply with the duty in the Children and Families Act 2014 to support pupils with medical conditions, by including provision for children with conditions such as coeliac disease and severe food allergies to have access to the same opportunities as others, including safe meals.

For the provision of school food, catering companies and suppliers are subject to allergen and packaging rules and regulations, such as the Food Information Regulations. Compliance with the Regulations falls under the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academies and management committees of pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils at their school with medical conditions. These may be food-related, for example a pupil may have a food allergy or coeliac disease. Schools should therefore take appropriate action in supporting such pupils to access food provision, particularly when schools have a legal requirement to offer free school meals (FSM) to those eligible for means-tested FSM or universal infant free school meals.

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