School Food Standards Compliance pilot begins
A new School Food Standards Compliance pilot has been launched which aims to design and test a new approach in supporting schools to comply with the existing School Food Standards.
The pilot, run by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Department for Education (DfE), will run across 18 participating local authorities through the 2022–2023 school year, ending in July 2023.
The joint initiative, supported by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), aims to design and test a new approach in supporting schools to comply with the existing School Food Standards. The pilot will involve adding some nutrition-focussed questions and observations to the routine inspections carried out by local authority Food Safety Officers, to promote compliance with School Food Standards.
Where potential non-compliance is observed, the pilot will test the feasibility that a Food Safety Officer could share this information with a local authority team (such as public health or food education) who could then support the school to improve compliance with School Food Standards.
Food Safety Officers will not make a judgement or take any enforcement action where potential non-compliance with the School Food Standards is identified.
This research will help inform the role local authorities across England could play in assuring compliance with the School Food Standards. Research findings will be published in accordance with Government Social Research guidelines, at the end of the pilot. The results from the checks on compliance with the School Food Standards during the pilot will not be made publicly available.
The authorities selected to participate in the pilot include:
1. Blackpool Council
2. Lincolnshire County Council*
3. City of Lincoln Council
4. Plymouth City Council
5. Nottingham City Council
6. Royal Borough of Greenwich
7. Derbyshire County Council*
8. Derbyshire Dales District Council
9. City of Wolverhampton Council
10. Oldham Council
11. Herefordshire Council
12. City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
13. Telford and Wrekin Council
14. Newham Council
15. Chelmsford City Council
16. South Tyneside Council
17. Peterborough City Council
18. Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
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