HC Deb 20 March 1985 vol 75 cc484-9W
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the proportion of schoolchildren in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools, expressed as a percentage, entitled to free school meals in each year since 1975, for each local education authority and for the country as a whole.

Mr. Dunn

Information is not available on the number of pupils entitled to a free school meal. The percentages of pupils taking free school meals in primary and secondary schools for the years 1978 to 1983 are given in the following tables. Information in this form is not available for the years 1975 to 1977.

1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978
per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent.
Barnsley 19.4 16.7 13.2 10.7 11.6 15.1
Doncaster 21.4 18.5 16.1 12.0 10.8 13.2
Rotherham 19.7 15.5 13.3 10.1 11.3 13.8
Sheffield 22.4 19.0 16.3 10.5 10.7 11.9
Bradford 33.1 29.3 23.1 16.8 17.3 20.1
Calderdale 24.6 22.6 18.2 13.8 12.8 16.1
Kirklees 21.1 19.2 17.1 14.1 12.3 14.9
Leeds 21.5 20.4 17.8 14.5 14.4 16.8
Wakefield 18.4 17.5 15.6 11.2 10.8 13.0
Gateshead 27.8 25.9 23.5 18.8 18.7 21.9
Newcastle upon Tyne 38.1 33.8 30.9 27.1 26.5 30.5
North Tyneside 21.0 19.6 16.6 13.3 13.7 17.4
South Tyneside 26.7 23.4 20.5 17.4 17.2 19.1
Sunderland 31.6 28.2 25.4 20.6 20.2 21.8
Isles of Scilly 6.3 6.1 6.5 5.4 n/a 28.4
Avon 18.9 17.2 14.8 12.9 14.0 15.3
Bedfordshire 13.3 11.6 7.9 9.1 9.2 10.2
Berkshire 7.7 7.8 5.6 4.5 8.1 11.2
Buckinghamshire 9.4 5.3 6.1 5.2 6.6 7.5
Cambridgeshire 13.2 12.1 10.2 9.3 9.2 11.5
Cheshire 18.7 15.9 12.2 10.2 11.8 13.3
Cleveland 30.5 26.7 21.8 17.1 14.8 17.1
Cornwall 15.9 14.4 11.9 8.8 18.8 22.7
Cumbria 13.2 11.8 10.4 9.3 11.1 14.2
Derbyshire 16.6 14.9 12.5 9.0 9.3 11.5
Devon 14.6 13.6 12.4 9.4 15.5 18.4
Dorset 6.4 5.6 4.9 4.7 15.4 18.2
Durham 26.4 23.3 19.7 16.5 16.1 19.3
East Sussex 13.8 12.4 13.8 12.7 16.2 19.2
Essex 9.7 8.7 6.6 5.1 8.7 11.3
Gloucestershire 10.7 9.3 7.3 5.3 12.5 16.5
Hampshire 9.5 8.5 7.2 5.7 10.5 13.6
Hereford and Worcester 9.7 9.2 9.9 7.8 10.4 13.0
Hertfordshire 9.6 8.0 7.9 6.7 7.6 9.3
Humberside 25.9 13.0 13.5 11.8 10.5 12.1
Isle of Wight 16.9 14.2 11.3 8.8 12.0 14.8
Kent 11.1 9.6 7.9 6.9 10.0 12.1
Lancashire 21.7 19.4 15.2 11.5 13.8 15.6
Leicestershire 15.0 12.0 10.0 7.4 11.3 12.6
Lincolnshire 6.7 3.7 5.1 6.7 9.2 11.6
Norfolk 12.6 10.9 8.5 7.2 12.3 15.0
North Yorkshire 11.8 10.9 9.5 8.4 11.1 13.4
Northamptonshire 12.9 11.6 9.6 8.4 8.9 10.9
Northumberland 12.6 10.9 8.6 9.0 12.9 15.7
Nottinghamshire 20.4 17.6 15.5 10.5 13.3 15.5
Oxfordshire 8.1 7.7 6.6 4.8 8.8 10.7
Salop 17.0 14.9 12.0 10.9 11.4 12.4
Somerset 12.3 11.0 9.7 9.3 11.7 15.4
Staffordshire 13.7 11.6 8.7 5.7 9.8 11.7
Suffolk 10.2 8.6 7.3 5.4 11.6 14.6
Surrey 5.5 4.9 3.9 3.0 6.4 8.3
Warwickshire 11.7 9.3 7.1 5.4 8.5 10.2
West Sussex 7.5 6.7 5.6 4.2 10.2 12.3
Wiltshire 7.1 8.8 7.5 6.0 10.7 14.7
ENGLAND 17.9 15.2 13.4 10.9 12.9 15.2

Number of free pupil meals as a percentage of pupils present In secondary schools
1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978
per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent.
Barking 9.3 8.9 8.2 6.9 7.4 9.5
Barnet 7.7 7.2 5.7 7.0 7.0 8.1
Bexley 6.5 6.3 4.7 6.3 5.2 5.8
Brent 12.9 12.9 11.4 12.4 12.7 7.1
Bromley 5.9 5.4 4.6 4.9 7.5 8.4
Croydon 7.8 6.6 5.8 7.4 10.6 12.5
Ealing 15.5 13.4 12.2 11.5 11.8 13.9
Enfield 9.0 8.3 7.1 4.6 4.9 5.9
Haringey 18.5 16.6 13.1 11.5 12.3 14.0

1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978
per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent.
Harrow 6.2 5.3 4.3 5.0 4.4 4.7
Havering 5.9 4.9 4.8 4.0 4.7 5.3
Hillingdon 7.5 6.8 5.9 5.7 6.5 6.5
Hounslow 11.2 8.9 7.2 6.7 7.1 7.8
Kingston-upon-Thames 5.8 5.7 5.1 5.1 6.0 6.5
Merton 7.4 6.4 5.4 3.8 7.6 8.7
Newham 11.6 10.1 8.4 8.8 9.2 9.8
Redbridge 5.5 4.4 4.0 2.2 5.1 6.9
Richmond-upon-Thames 10.6 9.1 7.2 6.4 8.5 9.6
Sutton 3.4 2.8 2.5 2.1 7.7 8.2
Waltham Forest 14.0 12.4 8.9 6.9 7.2 8.7
ILEA 25.0 23.1 20.3 18.6 19.0 20.5
Birmingham 28.3 n/a 19.8 14.1 15.4 17.0
Coventry 23.3 20.5 18.1 13.3 13.9 15.8
Dudley 11.3 8.6 6.6 4.2 4.5 5.3
Sandwell 20.3 17.0 14.1 9.0 7.9 9.7
Solihull 9.9 8.4 5.8 3.9 7.7 9.4
Walsall 20.1 17.4 13.2 9.1 9.2 12.1
Wolverhampton 21.5 18.1 15.8 11.1 10.1 11.2
Knowsley 34.7 30.7 21.4 15.1 20.4 23.8
Liverpool 29.0 24.6 22.7 20.5 20.6 21.4
St. Helens 17.4 14.7 12.0 9.7 8.6 11.2
Sefton 13.3 11.7 9.3 7.4 10.4 12.5
Wirral 20.6 13.8 15.6 11.3 10.7 11.6
Bolton 18.1 17.3 14.0 11.8 11.2 14.8
Bury 10.8 9.6 7.1 5.3 8.9 12.0
Manchester 36.2 33.0 29.9 23.5 24.9 26.8
Oldham 21.1 18.2 17.2 8.5 11.7 13.7
Rochdale 23.8 21.0 17.5 13.4 13.5 16.8
Salford 23.3 20.9 16.6 15.4 16.7 17.9
Stockport 13.2 10.8 9.3 8.3 9.8 11.4
Tameside 18.5 16.4 14.0 11.9 11.5 14.5
Trafford 11.5 9.4 7.9 6.3 12.7 14.7
Wigan 15.8 14.3 13.3 10.8 11.8 14.5
Barnsley 14.6 12.2 9.4 8.9 9.7 12.3
Doncaster 16.1 14.1 12.5 8.9 9.1 11.0
Rotherham 13.3 9.0 8.5 7.1 8.9 11.2
Sheffield 15.8 12.6 10.1 7.2 7.6 8.5
Bradford 27.8 24.5 20.2 15.7 16.4 18.2
Calderdale 18.6 17.6 13.6 10.5 10.4 13.1
Kirklees 18.6 16.3 14.7 12.3 11.5 13.4
Leeds 20.6 11.4 16.7 13.6 13.6 15.5
Wakefield 14.6 13.9 12.4 9.7 10.1 12.4
Gateshead 18.1 17.5 16.2 12.9 14.2 16.1
Newcastle upon Tyne 25.8 22.8 20.8 17.6 18.2 20.7
North Tyneside 16.7 14.6 11.4 10.1 11.1 10.9
South Tyneside 18.5 15.8 13.9 12.5 12.5 15.7
Sunderland 21.2 19.0 17.0 14.0 14.2 16.1
Isles of Scilly 27.0 24.4 21.0 25.8 n/a 15.1
Avon 13.2 12.4 10.7 8.9 8.8 11.4
Bedfordshire 8.9 7.6 14.0 6.8 7.5 8.9
Berkshire 5.3 4.5 3.7 2.6 6.7 8.0
Buckinghamshire 6.5 9.7 4.1 3.5 4.7 4.9
Cambridgeshire 10.1 9.1 7.9 7.6 7.4 8.9
Cheshire 11.4 9.5 6.6 5.7 9.4 10.0
Cleveland 22.9 19.4 16.0 13.4 12.0 13.2
Cornwall 12.6 11.9 9.5 7.1 15.2 18.5
Cumbria 9.2 8.7 7.1 7.0 8.9 11.0
Derbyshire 12.6 11.2 9.4 6.7 7.0 8.9
Devon 10.8 10.0 8.9 7.3 12.9 15.2
Dorset 7.9 6.4 5.4 6.9 11.2 13.7
Durham 18.1 16.3 14.3 12.4 12.3 15.3
East Sussex 9.4 8.6 9.5 8.9 11.9 14.0
Essex 8.3 7.1 4.7 4.8 6.5 8.2
Gloucestershire 7.4 5.3 4.8 4.1 10.0 12.0
Hampshire 6.8 5.8 4.5 3.8 7.5 9.5
Hereford and Worcester 9.2 7.5 6.6 5.4 7.7 9.2
Hertfordshire 7.0 6.5 5.8 5.2 6.5 7.5

1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978
per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent.
Humberside 9.7 16.3 10.7 9.7 9.7 11.8
Isle of Wight 11.5 9.8 7.5 5.7 8.6 10.9
Kent 7.5 6.6 5.2 5.0 7.7 9.4
Lancashire 16.9 14.6 12.0 9.1 11.4 12.6
Leicestershire 11.9 9.4 7.4 5.8 8.2 9.9
Lincolnshire 6.7 5.4 5.2 5.0 7.3 8.8
Norfolk 10.3 8.6 6.4 9.3 10.0 11.7
North Yorkshire 9.2 8.6 7.5 6.4 8.6 10.9
Northamptonshire 11.6 10.2 7.8 5.2 8.1 10.1
Northumberland 9.4 8.6 6.6 8.4 11.8 14.4
Nottinghamshire 14.2 12.1 10.7 6.9 10.2 11.5
Oxfordshire 6.7 6.1 5.4 3.9 7.9 9.9
Salop 13.1 12.0 9.6 9.9 10.3 11.5
Somerset 11.0 9.6 8.9 8.4 10.1 12.7
Staffordshire 8.9 7.0 5.2 3.7 6.9 8.1
Suffolk 7.0 6.4 5.2 3.9 9.5 11.8
Surrey 3.2 2.6 2.2 1.8 4.2 5.3
Warwickshire 7.0 6.2 4.6 3.6 6.1 7.6
West Sussex 5.1 4.1 3.7 3.0 7.4 9.2
Wiltshire 8.3 7.1 6.2 4.7 9.4 12.1
ENGLAND 13.3 11.3 9.9 8.3 10.1 11.9