Schools will be required to offer nutritious hot meals to pupils under proposals by Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, to “transform” the quality of lunches.

The move came as Ms Kelly announced an extra £220 million in funding to raise the amount spent on food per pupil to 50p in primary schools and 60p in secondaries from September. Another £60 million will go to establish a School Food Trust to advise parents and governing bodies on improving the quality of menus.

The announcement came on the day that Jamie Oliver, the celebrity chef, delivered a petition with 271,677 signatures to Tony Blair at Downing Street demanding more money for school dinners and a ban on junk food in canteens.

Mr Oliver’s television series on the appalling standard of school meals provoked a huge response from parents and propelled the issue up the political agenda. He said yesterday that the Government’s initiative would “make a difference to every kid in this country”.

The aim of ensuring that all children are offered a hot meal at lunchtimes will present a significant challenge to primary schools in many areas. At present, governing bodies and local authorities are under no obligation to provide hot food, even for children eligible for free school meals because of family poverty. Thousands of primaries have no kitchens.

A senior government source told The Times: “There will be a new duty on governing bodies to look at the standard of school food and to make sure it is nutritious. We expect local authorities to take their obligations seriously as well. We have given them the money so that they can put hot meals back on the menu and we expect that they will be working out how to do that.”

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said that the initiative would require schools to change the eating habits of the nation.

“Schools and local authorities will be expected in five months to reverse a trend that has been going in the opposite direction for a least five years. It is a huge challenge,” he said.

“Many schools don’t have kitchen facilities and others have got rid of hot meals because the trend has been for parents to send their children with packed lunches.”

He said that schools without kitchens would be able to buy in hot meals, but it would be economic only if enough parents chose to take the service. Parents would have to be prepared to pay more for a good hot-meals service.

Ms Kelly said that the new funding, which is being drawn from reserves at the Department for Education and Skills, amounted to an extra £10 per pupil each year for three years.

“Every school will now be able to spend a minimum of 50p per pupil on ingredients for school meals. This new investment will transform what is offered to children and teenagers in our schools so that high-quality healthy food is on every child’s plate,” she said.

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