The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act:
- Places health promotion at the heart of schools' activities
- Ensures that food and drink served in schools meets nutritional requirements specified by the Scottish Ministers by regulations
- Ensures local authorities promote the uptake and benefits of school meals and, in particular, free school meals
- Reduces the stigma associated with free school meals by requiring local authorities to protect the identity of those eligible for free school meals
- Gives local authorities the power to provide pupils with healthy snacks and drinks, either at a cost or free of charge
- Requires local authorities to consider sustainable development guidance when they provide food or drink in schools
The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008
The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations were passed by Parliament on 25 June 2008.
We are currently preparing guidance, Food in Schools - a guide to implementing the nutritional requirements, to help those who are involved in providing food and drinks in schools to implement the regulations. It explains the nutritional requirements in the regulations and provides guidance on how to comply with them. It is expected to be published and sent to schools later in summer 2008. However, for people who would like to see the guidance before this, a draft copy can be found here. It should be noted that this draft copy is a work in progress and as such may be subject to some small changes. Therefore, please refrain from printing unless entirely necessary.
Commencement
Parts of the Act will commence at different times, as shown in the table below:
Date | Power or Duty |
10 August 2007 | Power to provide food or drink either at a cost or free of charge (new section 53(2C) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 ("the 1980 Act") |
3 January 2008 | Duties in relation to health promotion (section 1) |
4 August 2008 | sustainable development guidance (section 9 of the Act bringing in new section 56E of the 1980 Act) anonymity of pupils receiving free school lunches (section 8 of the Act bringing in new section 53B of the 1980 Act); Nutritional Requirements Regulations - -the provision of free drinking water to pupils at all times in both primary and in secondary schools; -nutritional requirements for food and drink in primary schools only; |
3 August 2009 | Nutritional Requirements Regulations - nutritional requirements for food and drink in secondary schools |
We have decided to delay the commencement of the nutritional requirements in secondary schools for a year. This will give those secondary schools that need it more time to make a phased transition to the new regulations. However, schools which feel able to make the changes effectively from August 2008 will be encouraged to do so.
The Health Promotion Guidance which accompanies the Act was published on 12 May 2008.
For a copy of the Act or the explanatory notes to the Act visit the Office of Public Sector Information website.
Packed lunches
A healthy packed lunch should be just as nutrititious as a school lunch and many local authorities already have packed lunch guidance available for parents. In order to complement the Act, we have produced guidance for parents. Here is an example of a sample menu for primary aged children.
Additional Health Promotion Work
The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act is just one part of the wider work that the Scottish Government is undertaking to improve the health and wellbeing of Scotland's people. Other policies include:
Free School Lunch Trial
The Healthy Living Campaign
The National Physical Activity Strategy / Active Schools and