§ Mr. Alec Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of children were in receipt of free school meals in (a) Wales and (b) each local education authority area in Wales in 1979 and at the latest available date.
§ Mr. Michael RobertsInformation on this topic is collected at a census which is carried out on a specific day at the beginning of each academic year. The following table shows the number of free school meals received on 25 September 1981, the latest date for which information is available, expressed as a percentage of the number of pupils present on that day, together with similar figures for September 1979.
181W
Percentage of pupils receiving free meals in maintained schools September 1979 September 1981 Clwyd 12.5 11.3 Dyfed 13.9 10.5 Gwent 15.4 17.7 Gwynedd 21.4 15.1 Mid-Glamorgan 12.7 16.5 Powys 10.6 9.7 South Glamorgan 16.2 17.2 West Glamorgan 12.0 14.7 WALES 14.3 14.7