School milk u-turn welcomed by Savage

Ulster Unionist MLA George Savage, a member of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, commended Prime Minister David Cameron on his commitment to retaining the free milk scheme:

“I am delighted by news that the Prime Minister has opted to go back on proposals to scrap the free milk scheme.

“I have long campaigned to retain – and indeed extend - the Nursery Milk scheme, which allows children under five in approved day care to receive 189ml (1/3 pint) of milk each day free of charge.

“This is such an important facility, both for growing children and for the dairy industry.

“While I recognise the need to cut costs across government, this is not something that should be under consideration. Indeed, just because the scheme has been in place since the 1940s does not mean that it is outdated – in fact, to my mind, this makes it tried and tested.

“It is for this reason that I am in the process of meeting with representatives of Cool Milk - one of the UK’s leading school milk suppliers.”