§ Sir W. JENKINSasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education what is the character of the meals other than milk meals on which the Board pay grant; and what is the average cost separately?
§ Mr. RAMSBOTHAMThe Board of Education recognise for grant, in addition to milk meals, expenditure on ordinary meals, which are usually dinners, but in some cases breakfasts or teas, and expenditure on cod liver oil, dried milk, and certain concentrated foods. The average cost of all types of meals in 1931-32 was 2.36d., of which 1.66d. represented cost of food only. Separate figures for each of the various types of meals are not available.
§ Sir W. JENKINSasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education the number of children in England and Wales receiving milk meals daily; what quantity is given; and what number of children are provided with meals other than milk, giving separate figures for England and Wales?
§ Mr. RAMSBOTHAMDaily figures are not available, but the following table shows the number of individual children who received meals of various types during the month of October, 1933, under arrangements made by local education authorities.
1325W
— England. Wales. Total. Number of children provided with milk meals 148,186 17,544 165,730 Number of children provided with ordinary meals (breakfasts, dinners or teas). 93,096 13,258 106,354 Number of children provided with other types of meals (e.g cod liver oil). 17,862 522 18,384 The numbers in the table are rather larger than the numbers receiving meals daily owing to children being added to or removed from the feeding list during the month. Moreover, the total of these figures is somewhat larger than the total number of children receiving meals of any kind during the month as some children receive meals of more than one type. In addition to the number of children provided with milk under arrangements 1326W made by local education authorities, it is estimated that over 1,000,000 children receive one-third of a pint of milk daily under schemes established by the National Milk Publicity Council. In the case of milk provided by local education authorities, the quantity varies from one-third of a pint to one pint per meal. The usual provision is half a pint per meal.