§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact on the nutrient content of school meals of the metric used by the Audit Commission Best Value Inspectors for school catering services. [146349]
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggThis Department has not made any such assessment as the Audit Commission as part of Ofsted LEA inspections uses the food based approach set out in the Nutritional Standards Regulations in its inspections of school catering services.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make it his policy to(a) implement national nutrient-based standards for (i) school breakfasts and (ii) school lunches and (b) make arrangements for monitoring their implementation. [146350]
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggThere are no plans to require maintained schools to provide breakfasts. Schools are required to provide free lunches to eligible pupils, and lunches for other pupils where a request for one is made, that meet the school lunch nutritional standards.
We carried out two consultations before introducing the national nutritional standards in 2001. Most of those consulted thought that food based standards would be simpler to implement and monitor, and would be consistent with cross Government policies that support children in making healthy eating choices. Most importantly, they are easily understood by children.