§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current range of costs per annum for children of service personnel who are attending boarding schools in the United Kingdom and in respect of whom the fees are met wholly or partly by his Department; what is the average cost per pupil; and whether he will identify the costs separately for (a) independent and (b) maintained schools.
§ Mr. FreemanFees of boarding schools attended by the children of service personnel drawing boarding school allowance range between £1,800 and more than £6,000 per annum, based on the figures which I gave to my hon. Friend on 18 February,Official Report at column 686, and before allowing for taxation, the current average annual cost of boarding school allowance is some £4,300 per pupil. Separate average costs for pupils in independent and maintained schools are not available.