Political figures react to school meals uptake report

Primary uptake saw a rise of 2.3% and secondary school meals saw a drop of 0.5%. Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws described the 0.5% as a plunge and labels the schools meals service in secondary school: "Not only has the Government missed its target on school meals, but since the intervention of ministers, take-up has actually plunged. The school meals service in secondary schools has been in meltdown over the last few years, and in many secondary schools fewer than one in ten children have a daily hot meal. "We have to change the culture in secondary schools to ensure that the lunch break is long enough, and that all pupils are expected to stay in school and sit down to a proper lunch. It is vital that ministers provide more investment to keep school meal prices down, and to ensure that more schools have their own kitchen facilities. "At present, the Government is not doing nearly enough to turn around the school meals service." The Liberal Democrat website added that their own research has found that only one in four schools has a lunch break of an hour or more, with some schools only allowing twenty minutes for lunch, making it difficult for healthy meals to be served. Secretary of State Ed Balls and Children's Minister Kevin Brennan today vowed there would be no let up in the Government's efforts to cut childhood obesity, as the latest school food-take up figures were published today. Mr Balls said he was determined that every school should have a proper 'dining culture' where eating a healthy lunch is seen as normal by young people – particularly the 230,000 children eligible for, but not claiming, free school meals. It comes after the Government published its obesity strategy, Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives, in January, which aims to reduce the proportion of overweight and obese children to 2000-levels within 12 years. Ministers also announced an extra £6 million over the next three years to promote healthy food to young people and raise take up – on top of the £21 million funding settlement the School Food Trust got in March. And they confirmed grants totalling £46.9 million to build new school kitchens in 15 local authorities, with a high proportion of schools with no cooking facilities. This was the first funding committed from the £150 million school kitchen fund first announced last autumn. Ed Balls said: "We've turned a corner in primary schools and the steep fall last year in secondary schools has been halted. This is a testament to the hard work of catering staff on the ground. "But we know there is still a huge job ahead. The School Food Trust is making good progress and I know it will now redouble its efforts – in particular ensuring that children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who need it most, are not missing out on a free healthy meal every school day. "We must stop the rise in child obesity and I make no apologies for banning junk food forever and introducing tough nutrition standards. "Unhealthy eating is ingrained in society so this has to be a long-term project – as Jamie Oliver himself has acknowledged. You are not going to get young people in secondary schools out of the chippy and eating school lunches unless schools, parents and children are pulling in the right direction. "This is not some impossible dream. Hundreds of schools are leading the way in creating high quality food in a proper dining culture, with high-quality canteens; stay-on-site policies where possible; good lunchtime organisation, including cutting queues by staggering lunch times; effective diet and nutrition education; and actively involving young people in drawing up menus." Catering costs are barely out of the headlines and Kevin Brennan said: "We recognise caterers' concerns over rising food, fuel and labour costs. The key to generating more income for caterers is more children eating lunches – that's why we put such an emphasis on raising take up. "Rising food prices is a glo