Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK) on Monday, 15 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 June 2026. It was answered by Olivia Bailey (Labour) on Tuesday, 23 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.
School Milk
- Question
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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.
- Original answer
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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 free school meal criteria, to continue to receive free milk at school after the age of five years old.
The government is expanding eligibility to free school meals meaning that more children can access milk when it is offered as part of their free meals. For these reasons, there are no plans to extend NMS eligibility to the end of Reception year.
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The answer was corrected by Olivia Bailey (Labour)
on Monday, 17 August 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.
- Corrected answer
-
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.
The government is expanding eligibility to free school meals meaning that more children can access milk when it is offered as part of their free meals.For these reasons, there are no plans to extend NMS eligibility to the end of Reception year.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 9524
- Session
- 2026-27
- Related items
- Subjects
- School milk Cool Milk at School
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Show all related items (5)
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-09-25 15:01:41 +0100
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- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/9524
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