§ Mr. Juddasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she has studied the statement, a copy of which has been sent to her, by the President of the National Union of Teachers in Portsmouth on the essential nature of school meals for some children; and 234W whether she will make a statement on the analysis undertaken by her Department of the impact of increased school meal charges in Portsmouth.
§ Mrs. ThatcherThe copy of the statement mentioned in the Question has not yet reached me but Press reports I have seen suggest that the children mentioned in the statement suffer from neglect on the part of their parents rather than from any weakness in the arrangements for providing free school meals and other benefits under the Education Act.
With regard to the second part of the Question I have made no special investigation into the impact of increased school meals charges on children in the Portsmouth area.