§ Mr. Wilkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will tabulate the local education authorities where the proportion of schoolchildren having free school meals is highest, down to and including the county borough of Bradford, and also including other county boroughs of comparable size for which the proportion is lower than Bradford.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasThe following table shows the local education authorities in England and Wales which have a higher proportion of pupils receiving free school meals than Bradford and the county borough local education authorities of comparable size to Bradford which have a lower proportion of pupils receiving free school meals. The figures of take-up of free school meals relate to October 1972, the latest available:
Local Education Authority Percentage of pupils present receiving free school meals Newcastle-upon-Tyne … 28.1 Manchester … 25.0 Caernarvonshire … 24.8 Salford … 23.9 Gateshead … 22.5 Preston … 20.9 Oldham … 20.0 Birkenhead … 19.6 Anglesey … 19.1 I.L.E.A … 18.9 Merioneth … 18.8 Halifax … 18.0 Bradford (294,740) … 17.4 Cardiff (276,790) … 16.4 Nottingham (296,750) … 15.8 Kingston-upon-Hull (284,680) … 15.4 Coventry (333,000) … 10.2 Wolverhampton (268,380) … 10.1 Leicester (282,000) … 9.4 The figures in brackets are the Registrar-General's estimates of population for June 1971, the latest available.