§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will describe the arrangements by which Her Majesty's forces pay school fees for children being educated in the United Kingdom, indicating the number of schools and the number of children involved in such arrangements in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. LeeThe payment of school fees in respect of service men's children attending boarding schools in the United Kingdom is the responsibility of the parent. To assist in payment of those fees, boarding school allowance, within the approved limits is paid to the parent in advance separately for each school term on production of the requisite school bill. In the majority of cases, the allowance payable does not cover the full cost of the school fees.
A recent survey of boarding schools established that some 21,500 children of service parents attended approximately 800 different schools. Similar records are not maintained for previous years and this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.