Meals and milk
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Last updated: 26 May 2006
Provision of meals
The duty to provide free meals to eligible pupils, paid lunches where
parents request them, and to comply with national nutritional standards, rests
with the LA. Where a school's budget share includes an amount in respect of
meals and other refreshments this duty rests with the school's governing
body.
For further information, see:
-
s512 of the Education Act 1996, amended by s201 of the Education Act 2002
-
The Education (School Lunches) (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Order 2003 (Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 382)
The LA or governing body may provide meals or other refreshments to pupils, either on the school premises or elsewhere where education is provided.
The LA or governing body must provide facilities for pupils not taking school meals, so they can eat meals which they've brought to school. These facilities include; accommodation, furniture and supervision, which allow children to eat their meals in suitable conditions. The school cannot charge pupils for using these facilities.
Free school meals
Children whose parents receive the following are entitled to free
school meals:
- Income Support (IS)
- Income-based Job Seekers Allowance (IBJSA)
- support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual taxable income (as assessed by The Inland Revenue) which from 6 April 2006 does not exceed £14,155;
- or the Guaranteed Element of State Pension Credit.
N.B. Children who receive IS and IBJSA in their own right are also entitled to free school meals.
All other pupils must be charged the same amount for the same quantity of the same food, although the meals may be subsidised. Neither the governing body nor the LA has the power to provide free meals to any other pupils.
Paid meals service
A duty requiring LAs and governing bodies to offer paid meals, where parents
request them, was introduced from 1 April 2001.
Nutritional standards
The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (section 114)
gives the Secretary of State the power to make regulations setting out
compulsory minimum nutritional standards for school lunches.
See The Education (Nutritional Standards for School Lunches) (England) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000 No. 1777) for further information.
These regulations came into effect on 1 April 2001. The nutritional standards are food based rather than nutrient based, to make them easier for caterers to understand and interpret when planning meals. More importantly, they are easier for pupils to identify with and will foster a wider understanding of food. Guidance on the new standards is available on the DCSF's School meals website.
Delegation of funding for school meals
From 1 April 2000 funding for school meals was delegated to all secondary
schools. Primary and special schools can opt for delegation. Where a
school has a delegated budget for meals, the governing body takes on the
responsibility for their provision. This will include, for example,
deciding on the content and cost of meals, providing free school meals to
eligible pupils, and complying with the new nutritional standards for school
lunches that came into force on 1 April 2001.
When the LA's duties have been transferred to the governing body, it may make provision through arrangements it has negotiated itself, or by buying back into an LA catering service; but buying back into an LA catering service does not shift the legal duty of provision back to the LA. Governing bodies with meal responsibilities should ensure that meal providers are competent to deal with the various health and food safety issues which arise in meal provision.
Following a joint evaluation with the Food Standards Agency on secondary school meals, DCSF is taking forward a number of projects. These projects will improve food in schools and reinforce healthy eating messages taught in the classroom. DCSF, DoH, Defra and the Food Standards Agency, have jointly provided £1 million funding that will be used over the next three years to improve nutrition in school meals by:
- Revising both primary and secondary school meal standards; to reduce the consumption of fat, salt and sugar and to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables and other essential nutrients.
- Subject to legislation, extending the new standards to cover food across the school day, including vending machines and tuck shops;
- Supporting schools to provide the best meal service possible.
Additional Funding
Over the next three years, from September 2005, £220m of new
grants will be given directly to schools and local authorities to raise the
quality of school meals. The Department want schools to use those direct grants
to develop a coherent whole-school approach to food, covering not only school
meals but also all other aspects of food provision in school as well as using
the curriculum to reinforce healthy eating principles. The money will also
fund training and/or longer working hours for school cooks.
School Food Trust
The Department has allocated £15m to the School Food Trust to
provide independent support and advice about school meal improvements to
schools and parents. In addition, the Big Lottery Fund, as part of a strategic
programme to promote well being, has decided to allocate up to £45
million to support healthy eating projects and initiatives for children,
parents and their wider communities. The Fund will work in partnership with the
voluntary sector, including the School Food Trust, the Soil Association,
Sustain, local authorities, schools and the Healthy Schools Programme to
develop the programme.
Milk
Schools are not obliged to offer milk to pupils. Where LAs choose to provide
milk in the schools in their area, it must be free for pupils whose parents
receive:
- Income Support (IS)
- Income Based Jobseeker's Allowance (IBJSA)
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Child Tax Credit, provided that they do not receive Working Tax Credit and whose annual income (as assessed by The Inland Revenue) as from April 2006 does not exceed £14,155;
- or the Guaranteed Element of State Pension Credit
N.B. Children who receive IS and IBJSA in their own right are also entitled to free school meals.
The duty to provide milk free of charge to eligible pupils is transferred only to the governing bodies of former grant-maintained and grant-maintained special schools in England.
For further information, see the Education (Transfer of Functions Concerning School Lunches etc.)(England)(No.2) Order 1999 (SI 1999 No. 2164).
European Union subsidy rules allow LAs and schools to offer nursery and primary school pupils a maximum of 250 ml of subsidised milk a day for drinking. The European Union Milk Subsidy Scheme is run by the Rural Payments Agency and claims should be made through the LA, dairy or organisation set up to provide milk in schools.
Under the Welfare Food Scheme, run by the Department of Health, children under five are eligible for free school milk. Claims should be made through the LA.
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