§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) hew many schools he estimates raise funds from food and drink vending machines; [158686]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of schools raising funds from food and drink vending machines. [158947]
§ Mr. MilibandThis information is not collected centrally. Schools are free to install food and drink vending machines and collect income from them. We would encourage schools to consider doing this as part of a whole-school approach to promoting a healthy diet rather than for purely financial reasons, and to strike a sensible balance in the food and drink sold. This policy underlies the 'Food in Schools' initiative, which will include projects on healthier vending as announced on 5 January 2004.