§ 63. Miss Lestorasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consideration she has given to alternative methods of financing school meals.
§ Mrs. ThatcherI believe that we should not give a large subsidy to those parents who can afford to pay for the school dinner. The decisions recently announced reflect this view.
§ Mr. Maudeasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science up to what levels of gross income, including family allowances, will one, two and three child families be entitled to remission of school meal charges either for all children in the family or for one or more of the children on the assumption that rent, including rates, amounts to £3 a week.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe following table shows in round terms the entitlement to free school meals of the families in question under the remission arrangements which will operate from April, 1971:
Gross income including family allowances Free meals entitlement Family with three children £22 For all children. £23 For 2 children. £24 For 1 child Family with two children £20 For both children. £21 For 1 child. Family with one child £18 For 1 child It is not possible to be precise about the point at which a family with a particular gross income will lose all or part of the entitlement to free meals since this is affected by allowances and deductions from income other than rent and rates which vary in individual cases.
§ Mr. Armstrongasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is her estimate of the percentage take up of free school meals by those eligible to do 233W so; and what further steps does she propose to ensure that families are aware of their entitlement.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe best estimates suggest that the proportion of children eligible for free school meals who receive them is close to 80 per cent. As announced in the White Paper on New Policies for Public Spending, the Government are planning to give new publicity to the availability of all welfare benefits.
§ Mr. Marksasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science on which local education authorities she based the figure of £6 5s. 0d. for typical deductions from gross wages in assessing entitlement to free school meals.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe figure of £6 5s. 0d. which I used in my Answer to the hon. Member's Question on 2nd November was made up as follows:
£ s. d. Rent 2 4 6 Rates 14 6 Income Tax 1 8 0 National Insurance 1 7 10 Expenses of Employment 10 0 £6 4 10 The figures for housing costs represent the national averages for England and Wales for unrebated rent and rates of local authority dwellings. The figure of 10s. for expenses of employment is an estimate based on information obtained from a representative sample of local education authorities. In practice local authorities would of course have regard to the actual amounts notified by parents in respect of these items.
§ Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will reduce the price of school meals.
§ Mrs. ThatcherI have nothing to add to the statement on school meals in the White Paper "New Policies for Public Spending" (Cmnd. No. 4515) introduced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 27th October.