Labour Conference: Primary pupils to get free healthy school meals
Lauren Higgs
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The government is to provide free healthy school meals to all primary school pupils in two local authorities, health secretary Alan Johnson announced this morning.
In his speech to the Labour Party conference in Manchester, Johnson said the results of these two pilots would be examined "so we can gage whether the clear early improvements in Hull are sustainable elsewhere".
In 2004 Labour-run Hull City Council started offering all primary pupils free school meals but this programme was axed when the Liberal Democrats took control of the council in 2006.
Johnson also said Labour was committed to reducing health inequalities. "The most daunting task is to break the pernicious link between wealth and health it's an affront that someone's place of birth should determine their length of life. But the health inequalities gap can only be closed by concerted efforts to improve pupils' life chances."
He said measures including Sure Start, apprenticeships, literacy programmes and the minimum wage would help reduce the gap between the health of the rich and poor. Johnson said the Conservatives "refuse to recognise the problem of health inequalities and did nothing for 18 years except exacerbate them."
