HC Deb 21 July 1955 vol 544 c550
31. Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister of Education in how many schools milk tablets are being supplied in place of fresh milk.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education (Mr. Dennis Vosper)

Ninety-one maintained schools in England and Wales are using dried milk or milk tablets because satisfactory arrangements cannot be made for a supply of fresh milk; twenty-one of them are known to be using tablets in preference to dried milk.

Mr. Dodds

Will the Minister explain why people in the locality can get fresh milk and children cannot get it? Is he further aware that many of the milk tablets are well known as excellent catapult ammunition?

Mr. Vosper

It is the desire of my right hon. Friend that as many schools as possible shall have a supply of liquid milk, but there are certain small isolated schools to which it would not be an economic proposition to supply such milk. The hon. Member will notice that since he asked his last Question on this subject there has been a considerable reduction in the number of schools without a liquid milk supply, and that is continuing.

Mr. Langford-Holt

Is my hon. Friend aware that on the premise of the supplementary question, if liquid milk is supplied that does not necessarily mean that it will not be put into water pistols?