14. Short Debate: Delivering on universal free school meals: The challenges and opportunities

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:59 pm on 21 September 2022.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 5:59, 21 September 2022

Absolutely. I agree that it is an important opportunity for us to bring a whole-school approach to healthy eating. I think it's absolutely one of the key opportunities.

The first opportunity that we have in terms of embedding healthy, nutritious food as part of the whole culture of the school is the update to the healthy eating in schools regulations, which we want to support with a national conversation, and that will see those regulations are brought into line with the latest scientific advice, and it'll help us reframe our approach to food education in the way that we've been discussing today. And I want to make sure that we develop those proposals through the lens and in the context of the Curriculum for Wales as well, because there are opportunities and touch points for both those policy areas. We will work in partnership with the WLGA and local authorities to provide the kind of challenge and support for menu design and certification of compliance with the regulations that will be essential to be able to move forward in this area.

And I think there's an opportunity to develop here a mindset of creating value through food procurement rather than simply looking at cost savings, despite all the other challenges that we face. And so, in the autumn, there'll be new legal guidance, developed through our foundational economy programme, which will support public services to buy more local, sustainable food. And alongside this, the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Bill, which we've mentioned already in the debate, represents a real opportunity to strengthen foundational economy approaches in food procurement and then raising its profile across the entire system. There's a new procurement duty, which will help deliver socially responsible outcomes with social value at the centre, and there will be extra data requirements so we can capture what's going on in the system and help improve our food data reporting. We are already planning support to bring a more co-ordinated and consistent approach to public sector food procurement, which will help food firms be public sector ready, and this includes partnership work to develop a new public sector food programme and a public sector food strategy for Wales. And we're learning from some of the promising practice that has already been referred to in the debate across Wales, including Carmarthenshire and the council's work there to shorten supply chains, reduce carbon emissions, improve links in the food supply chains and build local supplier capacity as well. We're also looking at successful models of school meal provision in places like Malmö, in East Ayrshire, in Hackney, which emphasise the importance of education, upskilling and strong leadership in the system as well. And crucially, they also involve children in tasting new dishes, which Jenny Rathbone was speaking about in her contribution, and offering the kind of range in the menus, the seasonality and the provenance, and the options, such as plant-based alternatives, which Joyce Watson was calling for in her contribution. And finally, officials are engaging with Welsh public sector food procurement developments, working closely with wholesalers and suppliers to explore opportunities for switching to Welsh supply.

So, in conclusion, Dirprwy Lywydd, through the terms and conditions of our universal free school meals grant, we're influencing procurement and delivery practice on the ground already. That's an initial step in a longer journey that will certainly require a united front across portfolios in Government, public services more broadly, and our partners as well. And we've already demonstrated what might be achieved, I think, when different parts of the system collaborate in this way, and I think at the heart of it, really, is the fundamental insight that this is more even than just an investment in a plate of food; it's also an investment in the well-being of our future generations and in the health of our economy as well. Diolch yn fawr.