Sir Keir Starmer wants to offer “supervised toothbrushing” in free breakfast clubs if Labour wins the next general election.
But the move has drawn criticism from teaching unions as leaders say it should not be up to teachers to “make sure children brush their teeth each day”. Sir Keir however says he wants to see tooth decay “consigned to the history books”.
The Labour Party previously said it would introduce supervised toothbrushing for children aged three to five. The party has now honed in on the detail of the plans, saying the “targeted” national supervised toothbrushing programme would be rolled out in “fully funded breakfast clubs”.
The clubs will be introduced in every primary school so “every child is able to start the day with a healthy breakfast and parents are able to get to work”, Labour said.
Other aspects of Labour’s child health action plan include introducing a 9pm watershed for junk food ads, banning vape adverts aimed at children, better access to mental health support, cutting waiting times for hospital care for children, ensuring more dental appointments and making sure child health is a cross-government priority.
Speaking before a visit to a leading children’s hospital, Sir Keir said: “Tooth decay, stunted growth and stalling life expectancy should be consigned to the history books, but instead they’re the reality of Tory Britain. The biggest casualty of the short-term, sticking-plaster politics of the last 14 years are our nation’s children. My Labour government will turn this around.
“Healthy, happy children is not a nice to have, it’s a basic right, with economic urgency. We want the next generation to be chasing their dreams, not a dentist appointment. They should be aspiring to reach their potential, not reach a doctor.
“Labour will end the scandal of children being held back by poor health and regional inequalities by slashing waits for mental health treatment and hospital appointment, putting prevention first, and fixing NHS dentistry.
“That’s the future our children and young people deserve, and that’s the future a Labour Government will deliver.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “While it’s good to see that supervising toothbrushing won’t be a part of the school day itself, or an expectation of teachers, we remain somewhat sceptical about how this will work in practice.
“Questions remain about access to the facilities required to make this proposal work and the staffing implications for breakfast clubs. There is no doubt that, as a nation, we should be focused on improving children’s dental health, but this will certainly need further thought and additional funding.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, added: “While fully funded breakfast club provision will be a positive development for many schools, school lunches are seen by many school staff as a more effective mechanism for tackling child hunger. The NEU would hope Labour can go further by committing to free school meals for all children.”
He added: “What is essential to the effective rollout of breakfast clubs and toothbrushing supervision, however, is sufficient funding and staffing levels. It is not at all clear who will administer these new drives.
“Schools should be able to deliver these programmes free from the worry of budget constraints and increases to staff workload.”
Public Health Minister Andrea Leadsom MP said: “Given Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘blueprint’ for the country is a record of failure, he should focus on fixing his own house before criticising others.
“In Wales, Labour is overseeing the longest hospital waits in Great Britain, are the only administration to have cut the NHS budget since 2010, have underfunded the NHS and consistently fail to meet targets.
“Labour’s unfunded promises on healthcare in England would cost taxpayers billions, in addition to the £28 billion a year by 2030 spending promise they have already committed to and would inevitably hike up taxes to fund.
“This is the same old Labour of more spending and more taxes.
“The Conservative Government is taking the long-term decisions to protect the health of future generations – including creating a new smoke-free generation, protecting all our children from harmful vaping and creating family hubs across England to support every family to give their baby the best start for life.”
