Labour plans to introduce supervised toothbrushing for young children in free breakfast clubs, under plans to boost the health of children across the nation.
Leader Sir Keir Starmer said tooth decay should be “consigned to the history books” as he announced plans to boost dental services to ensure children can get appointments when they need one.
Labour previously said it would introduce supervised toothbrushing in schools for children aged three to five.
But the announcement drew criticism from teaching unions, with leaders saying it is “not the role of teachers to be making sure children brush their teeth each day”.
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”.
Tooth decay, stunted growth and stalling life expectancy should be consigned to the history books, but instead they’re the reality of Tory Britain
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer
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.
Education unions said that it was important for the programme to be backed by sufficient funding and staffing levels.
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.
“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 appointments, putting prevention first, and fixing NHS dentistry.”
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: “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.”
What is essential to the effective rollout of breakfast clubs and toothbrushing supervision, however, is sufficient funding and staffing levels
Daniel Kebede, National Education Union
Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “At present, the UK has some of the worst child health outcomes in Europe, and child health inequalities continue to widen.
“It is therefore welcome to see the Labour party’s intention to publish a dedicated child health action plan, which outlines many of the calls paediatricians have been making repeatedly – including tackling paediatric waiting times, supporting the health prevention agenda and providing support for child mental health.”
The Centre for Mental Health and the Royal College of Psychiatrists welcomed pledges on improving mental health care and support for children and young people.
But 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.
“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.”
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