§ Sir Knox Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he is aware of the system in use by local authority secondary schools, namely, to order at the start of each term quotas of milk for free distribution and to continue thereafter with such supplies regardless of whether the milk is drunk by the pupils or not; and what steps he is taking to ensure that such waste of public money is ended.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsNo, this is not the system. On the contrary, local education authorities have been advised that the orders placed at the beginning of each term, based on the number of pupils who normally take milk and on the usual rate of absence, should be reviewed regularly, preferably once a week throughout the term, and varied as necessary to avoid waste of public money.