§ 56. Mr. McBrideasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many local authorities have reduced staffs as a result of the drop in the number of school children taking school meals since these meals were increased in price; what are the location of these local authorities in England and Wales and the numbers of staff rendered unemployed in England and Wales; and what is the number of staff now on short time as a direct result of the increase in school meals.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithI regret the information is not available. Both the employment returns from local authorities and the unemployment statistics include, but do not separately identify, the numbers concerned with the provision of school meals. There are no statistics of short-time working for this category of employee.