§ 1. Mr. Luceasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she is satisfied with the level of subsidy on school meals.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science (Miss Margaret Jackson)No, Sir. As indicated in last February's White Paper on Public Expenditure (Cmnd. 6393), it is our intention to reduce the present rate of subsidy by about half by 1980.
§ Mr. LuceIs this not an example of the way our priorities are all wrong, since parents pay only 15p out of a total cost of 50p? In this financial year the taxpayer will be subsidising to the tune of £36 million, which is more than the cut in the defence budget. If the harsh choices were explained to parents, they would be willing to pay more for school meals in order to get our priorities into better shape.
§ Miss JacksonAs I have already said, parents will be asked to pay more. From September 1977 they will be asked to pay 25p.
§ Mr. Gwilym RobertsDoes not my hon. Friend agree that for poor families 54 with many children it is an enormous and unfair imposition to meet the cost of school fares and school meals? Will she ask her right hon. Friend in the Treasury, in his wisdom, to think again about this serious matter, because school meals have an important social content?
§ Miss JacksonMy hon. Friend knows that we are all concerned about the burden of school fares and school meals on poor families. In this case, however, we are looking at the way in which the school meals money is spent and the way in which free meals are provided. We shall come back to the House with regard to this at a later stage.