The government was plunged into crisis yesterday after Downing Street was forced to correct a Health Minister who had sent out letters proposing the axing of a UK-wide scheme offering free milk to under-five-year-olds in nursery or daycare.
UK public health minister Anne Milton set out the proposals in a letter to Scottish public health minister Shona Robison.
She claimed there was no evidence the scheme improved health and it was too expensive to run.
Instead, the government was considering increasing the value of Healthy Start vouchers for the poorest families.
With health experts decrying the plan, and memories of ‘Thatcher the milk snatcher’ being revived, Downing Street rushed to claim that Cameron had made clear that he ‘did not like the idea’ and that it would ‘not be happening’.
This declaration caught out the Universities Minister David Willetts in mid TV interview.
When first asked on the Andrew Marr Show, he confirmed: ‘This is one of the options that’s being looked at.’
Later the interviewer told him: ‘While we’ve been on air, I have to say that Downing Street has put out a statement saying that this idea of scrapping free milk for the under-5s will not now go ahead.
‘It’s been overruled by Downing Street. Some confusion in government over this?’
Willetts was lost for words for some time before replying: ‘Well, we have to look at a whole range of options.
‘And as options are looked at, of course they have to be assessed on their merits.
‘But the fact is that when we come at the end of the day to announce our public expenditure decisions in the autumn, I think people will see that we’ve managed to combine progressive values and also the necessary reductions in public spending that have to happen.’
Earlier the Department of Health (DoH) had confirmed the details of the letter but said no final decision had been taken.
The DoH said scrapping the scheme was being considered from April next year as part of the government’s Spending Review being carried out.
In her letter Milton admitted: ‘Abolition of the scheme is likely to be highly controversial, particularly as this will affect some children in low-income families.’
But she added: ‘This should not prevent us from ending an ineffective universal measure – and this would clearly be the best time to do it, given the state of public finances and the need to make savings.’
She said that the cost of running the scheme in England this year was nearly £50m and would rise to £59m in 2011-12.
