§ 62. Mr. G. Griffithsasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he can now supply the information on school meals in secondary schools to which he referred in reply to a similar question on 29th July, 1937?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education (Mr. Kenneth Lindsay)The returns mentioned in my reply to the hon. Member's question of 26th July last have now been summarised, and show that all except nine of the 133 local education authorities for higher education which provide secondary schools make some provision for school meals, and that in two of the remaining 2068 cases the matter is under consideration. In all the grant-earning secondary schools in England and Wales, including schools provided or aided by local education authorities, and some schools which are not aided, the number of pupils (other than boarders) who normally take dinner at school is returned as 85,855. Of these, 11,770 receive free dinners for which no cash payment is made, but in addition the parents of many pupils receive maintenance allowances which are intended to cover the whole or part of the cost of school dinners.