The Government has extended the deadline of its consultation on nursery milk by six weeks to 23 October, to give schools and nurseries more time to respond following the summer holidays.
In a statement from the Department of Health, health minister Dr Dan Poulter (pictured) said, ‘We have received a large number of responses from a range of organisations including childcare settings, specialist milk suppliers and the milk industry.‘Due to the summer break, we have been asked to provide extra time to schools and nurseries to respond to the consultation. The Government is therefore extending the consultation period for an extra six weeks, to ensure that anyone who wants to contribute can do so.’
Last month, the School and Nursery Milk Alliance called for an extension to the consultation, following concerns from its members that fewer practitioners would have the opportunity to contribute to the review, running originally from June to September, because it coincided with the summer holidays and the start of the new term.
The consultation on the future operation of the Nursery Milk Scheme proposes three cost-cutting options, including capping the price that can be claimed for milk, issuing e-voucher cards credited with a monthly payment, or directly supplying and delivering milk under a central contract
The Government will publish a formal response to the consultation after the 23 October closing date.
Jon Thornes, interim chairman of the School and Nursery Milk Alliance, said, ‘The Department of Health’s announcement is a victory for common sense. Ours has been one of a number of voices warning that the original consultation timeframe disadvantaged nurseries, schools and childminders who are the ones directly involved in ensuring children get their milk. It is important that early years settings now capitalise on the extended deadline to make their views known.
‘It is vital that the provision of free milk to children in early years settings remains a central part of public health policy. There are valuable health and social benefits to making milk available to children from a young age, and the Department of Health must ensure that any change to the scheme does not reduce the number of children receiving milk either directly or by default.’
To take part in the consultation visit http://www.consultations.dh.gov.uk/nurserymilk/nextsteps