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128 CHAPTER 6 ■ Increasing School Meal Uptake in a Deprived Region in England

then reverse this decline and to maintain and increase the uptake of healthy
school meals by children in a deprived part of England. This project was initi-
ated by the North East Centre of Excellence (NECE), as part of a program of ac-
tivity that aims to improve the efficiency and sustainability of public sector food
procurement.

U N ITE D KI N G D O M: A C O U NTRY O V E R V I E W

The United Kingdom (UK) is situated in western Europe and is comprised of
four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. While England
is not a large country (130,395 square kilometers), it has a relatively large, and
growing, population. In mid-2006 the resident population of the UK was
60,587,000, of which 50,763,000 lived in England. Life expectancy for both men
and women has continued to rise. In 2002, life expectancy at birth for females
born in the UK was 81 years, compared with 76 years for males (Office for
National Statistics, 2008a).
In the 2001 census, 92.1% of the population classified themselves as White.
Christianity is the main religion in Great Britain. There were 41 million Christians
in 2001, making up almost three-quarters (72%) of the population. People with no
religion form the second largest group, comprising 15% of the population (Office
for National Statistics, 2001).
In the UK, there are three distinct branches of government: the executive, the
legislature, and the judiciary. The executive in the UK comprises the Prime
Minister and his ministers. The legislature in the UK consists of the two Houses of
Parliament. The executive (government) presents to the legislature bills that it
wants to pass into law, and then it is up to Parliament to debate these bills, amend-
ing them if it thinks fit, and finally deciding whether to pass the bill and make it an
Act of Parliament or not. The role of the judiciary is to interpret the laws passed by
Parliament. Because the UK does not have a written constitution, the judiciary
cannot hold that a particular Act of Parliament or any action of the executive is
contrary to the constitution and accordingly unlawful. The UK has had a political
system in which two parties have dominated for at least three centuries. The parties
presently dominating the political scene are the Labour Party and the Conservative
(Tory) Party.
In England, healthcare services have been the responsibility of central gov-
ernment for more than 50 years. The Department of Health has made many