Abstract
In 2014/15, Universal Free School Meals (UFSM) were introduced in Scotland and England for children in their first three years of primary school. This study examined the implementation of UFSM in Scotland using Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), a middle-range theory of implementation, to identify areas of learning for policymakers wishing to introduce or extend similar policies. NPT is predominantly used to evaluate interventions or new technologies in healthcare settings. Qualitative data were collected across Scotland using a case study approach shortly after implementation (n = 29 school-level stakeholders) and in the following school year (n = 18 school-level stakeholders and n = 19 local authority-level stakeholders). Observations of lunchtime in each school were conducted at both timepoints. Data were analysed using a thematic framework approach using NPT constructs and sub-constructs. Results suggested education and catering stakeholders experiences of implementation diverged most around the NPT concepts of coherence, cognitive participation, and reflexive monitoring. Lack of coherence around the purpose and long-term benefits of UFSM appeared to reduce education stakeholders’ willingness to engage with the policy beyond operational issues. In contrast, catering stakeholders identified a direct benefit to their everyday work and described receiving additional resources to deliver the policy. Overall, participants described an absence of monitoring data around the areas of greatest salience for education stakeholders. This study successfully used NPT to identify policy learning around school meals. Policymakers must increase the salience of such intersectoral policies for all relevant stakeholders involved before policy implementation, and plan adequate monitoring to evaluate potential long-term benefits.
Highlights
1.1 Policy context Within the United Kingdom (UK) and beyond, school meals are a long standing proposed solution to child malnutrition
211 Multiple explanations were provided for this view, for example, school leaders stressed that all children had previously been accommodated in the dining hall, and management of space, with or without introduction of Universal Free School Meals (UFSM), was an ongoing task
We were dealing with a high number of children already who were receiving free school meals. (School Senior Leader, School 6)
Summary
1.1 Policy context Within the United Kingdom (UK) and beyond, school meals are a long standing proposed solution to child malnutrition. In the 19th and 20th centuries the provision of food and/or milk within schools, either via charitable organisations or the state, were framed as a policy response to alleviating hunger and the conditions arising from poor nutrition (Harris, 1995; Hurt, 1985). In the 21st century, school meals have been viewed as a potential policy to reduce the likelihood of children experiencing overweight and obesity, since the introduction of standards around the nutritional quality of foods/meals that can be served (Morgan and Sonnino, 2008). Since the financial crisis of 2008, and the subsequent policies of austerity in public sector spending, and widespread experience of wage deflation, school meals are once again being promoted as a solution to child hunger (Lambie‐Mumford and Sims, 2018). Around one in five children under 15 in the UK are estimated to live in households experiencing food insecurity (FAO et al, 2018; Trussel Trust, 2019) and the Trussel Trust have seen use of their foodbank network increase by 73% in the last five years (Trussel Trust, 2019).
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