§ Mr. Morgan Jonesasked the President of the Board of Education whether he will make arrangements whereby local education authorities could delegate to headmasters and headmistresses of schools authority to give meals to necessitous children without waiting for a certificate from the medical officer of the authority?
§ Mr. ShakespeareI am sending the hon. Member a copy of the Board's Circular 1443, from which he will see that there is no requirement that a certificate should be given by the school medical officer before children may receive free meals. It is for the local education authority to decide whether children should be fed, and in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Circular they are urged to invite reports from school medical officers, teachers, and others in regular contact with the children from day to day, and to make interim arrangements, pending full investigation, for the immediate feeding of children recommended for meals.