Minister for Early Education (): I have asked my department
to consult on proposed changes to the School Food Standards in
England.
A good meal or a nutritious breakfast can set a child up for the
day - helping them to concentrate, learn, and thrive. Working
alongside the Office for Health Improvements and Inequalities and
as part of our 10 Year Health Plan for England, we have committed
to overhaul School Food Standards to ensure that every child gets
the good quality food they need that gives them the best start in
life.
Too many children are not getting the nutritious food they need.
The latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows children
consume twice the recommended amount of free sugars, and most are
consuming insufficient fibre. Over 10.5% of children aged 4–5
start school with obesity and by the end of primary school this
rises to 22.2%. This is simply not good enough.
The School Food Standards are out of date and that is why we are
proposing to update the regulations to align with the latest
nutritional guidance (SACN) to reduce sugar, increase fibre and
limit unhealthy foods. These are changes that respond directly to
what parents, health experts, and the food sector have been
telling us for years. It means increasing fibre by ensuring
schools offer more wholegrains, vegetables, pulses and fruit
across meals and snacks. It means reducing sugar by limiting
sweetened breakfast items, desserts and drinks, and by lowering
the added sugar content of everyday menu options. It means
restricting foods that are higher in fat, sugar and salt, such as
deep-fried items, processed meats, confectionery and savoury
snacks, and ensuring these appear less often or in controlled
portions. It also means doing this in a way that schools can
continue to serve food that children are familiar with. For
secondary schools, we propose phasing in some of these changes to
give schools and caterers more time to adapt.
Improving nutritional quality must go hand in hand with ensuring
that children and young people enjoy the food they are served.
Our objective is not only to make school meals healthier, but to
ensure they are appealing, familiar and fulfilling, so that
healthier choices are enjoyed. Children's voices will be central
to this consultation. We want to hear directly from children and
young people on how healthier meals can best meet their needs. To
support this, the department is working with youth organisations
and representative bodies to ensure that children are engaged in
age-appropriate and inclusive ways.
Schools must comply with the School Food Standards to make sure
that children get the healthy meals they deserve, and we know
that governing bodies play a central role in shaping the quality
and nutritional value of school meals. These updated standards
are not about making that job harder – they are about giving the
whole school food community a clear, modern framework to work to,
with the support needed to make it happen. We recognise the
importance of clear, nationally consistent arrangements for
supporting and assuring compliance with the School Food Standards
and are developing our wider approach. To underpin this broader
compliance framework, we are setting out two targeted proposals
to reinforce leadership and visibility in schools. We are
proposing schools appoint a lead governor for school food and
publish their food policies and menus online, which would
strengthen accountability and improve compliance. Throughout this
entire process, we will continue working closely with schools to
identify the guidance they need to meet higher standards. We will
also work alongside the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs as it develops a new food strategy to ensure the
food on children's plates is good quality, accessible and
affordable.
These proposals apply to England only and the consultation will
run for 9 weeks, closing on 12 June 2026. The consultation and
the government response will be published on GOV.UK. We will also
place a copy of the government response in the Library of both
Houses.
A consultation will allow the department to capture and consider
a wide range of views, about how our proposals to change policy
are likely to impact schools, local authorities, parents,
children, and young people. We will consider all responses to the
consultation and use them to inform our proposals for better
meeting the policy objectives of state funded schools.
