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Chapter three Conclusions
3.1 The main conclusions to be drawn from this consultation are summarised in this chapter.
3.2 The views expressed about the proposed legislation are largely from education and health related stakeholders. There was representation from all but two categories of stakeholders, but not to every consultation question. Two categories that did not respond were Ethnic Minority Representative Groups and Other Equal Opportunity Stakeholders.
3.3 Proportionally speaking, the groups best represented were those representing the interests of children and young people, Directors of Education and Health stakeholders.
3.4 There was a very high level of common agreement between stakeholders on the proposals and very little divergence of views expressed in the additional comments supplied, with many key themes being raised repeatedly.
3.5 The consultation generated a significant level of additional comments on all of the proposed powers and duties. These comments were focused on suggested changes to the proposed legislation and the practical implications of implementing them. This suggests that there are possible refinements to the proposals that the Scottish Executive may wish to consider in taking forward the legislation.
3.6 Many of them cut across the various consultation questions so it is possible to generalise many aspects of the stakeholder feedback. All of the comments can be gathered under the two themes:
Suggested changes to the proposed legislation
3.7 Key suggested changes to the proposed legislation included:
- bans or limitations on some foods and drinks (eg carbonated drinks and high fat foods); many felt that the Bill had to be accompanied by this to be effective and it linked to many calls for banning (or at the very least) limiting mobile food vendors in or near schools
- extending the nutrition standards to cover food brought into school by pupils (which, in many cases, would be carbonated drinks, crisps, snacks etc)
- also making private sector pupils subject to the provisions and powers of the legislation
- extending the remit of schools to promote good health and nutrition standards beyond the school premises, including the health of parents and carers; also extending, or linking, the Bill to other initiatives on nutritional standards and health promotion, particularly the need for more physical activity (or play time in the case of younger children)
- extending the provision of free school meals to everyone to ensure all have the same opportunities for healthy eating and to avoid the potential stigma currently attached to claiming them, the importance of anonymity being a key concern for many respondents (many felt potential stigma was a key reason why only some of those entitled to free meals currently claimed them)
- tightening up the terminology used in some places to show a genuine commitment to improving healthy eating, rather than offering possible get out clauses as some felt was currently the case with the use of words such as "endeavour" and "practicable".
Implications for implementing the legislation
3.8 The key practical implications of the legislation were felt to be:
- the need for central monitoring: ie for checks to be made on food and drink brought to school for compliance with nutrition standards and checks to be made on the effective promotion by schools and local authorities
- the need to draw up a list of the kinds of food and drink to be served for schools to refer to (including the use of fresh, organic and/or locally sourced foods)
- the need to accompany its implementation with the broader teaching of cookery skills and principles of good health (including to parents and carers)
- determining the most appropriate access times to consume free drinks, fruit, vegetables, bread or cereal based snacks in school hours and ensuring that the level of access did not lead to risks to oral health
- the widely raised issue of the source of the additional funding that would be required by schools to provide extra school meals (in terms of the staff resources, food costs and the provision of appropriate environments to encourage uptake) and to help avoid the possible stigma of free school meals through investment in technology such as swipe cards.
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