§ 26. Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of total public expenditure on school meals in the current financial year; and what is the estimated expenditure in 1983–84 at current prices.
§ Dr. BoysonEstimated local authority current expenditure in cash terms on school meals and milk in 1982–83 is some £407 million; in addition some £14 million is provided through the European Community subsidy in respect of milk and milk-based products. The amount allocated for meals and milk in 1983–84 within the Government's expenditure plans is £273 million; the EC subsidy will amount to some £17 million. The local authority current expenditure figures for 1982–83 and 1983–84 are not directly comparable. For 1983–84 an additional global allowance of £904 million, not allocated between services, has been made available to local authorities and it is to be expected that a proportion of this will be spent on school meals and milk. Some local education authorities have already achieved large savings in this area and the Government look to authorities to make substantial further reductions if the planned level of cash for sectors which are considered of greater importance to the quality of the service is not to be unnecessarily reduced.