School Milk
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the campaign by Cool Milk entitled Fair Milk for a Fair Start.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The Nursery Milk Scheme (NMS) led by the Department of Health and Social Care, allows early years childcare settings registered with OFSTED to reclaim the cost of providing 189 ml (one-third of a pint) of milk to children in their care, for those under the age of five and who attend the childcare setting for at least two hours per day.
While the NMS entitlement ends once pupils reach the age of five, other provisions remain in place. The School Food Standards require lower fat or lactose reduced milk to be available to children who want it during school hours. As part of our proposals for updated School Food Standards, this daily requirement is retained, with milk continuing to be available at least once a day during school hours.
There is separate legislation which allows pupils who are eligible under the current targeted free school meal criteria, to continue to receive free milk at school after the age of five years old. Schools also have discretion to provide free milk to pupils who do not meet this criteria. Schools are best placed to consider the individual circumstances of their pupils in offering this provision more widely.
For these reasons, there are no plans to extend NMS eligibility to the end of Reception year.
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