§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his latest estimate of the number of children in (a) Great Britain and (b) in each English region entitled to free school meals; and how many receive them.
§ Miss Joan LestorSchool meals in Scotland and in Wales are the responsibility respectively of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. The following table shows for each region in England the number of pupils receiving free school meals. The figures are the latest available and relate to October 1974. No figures are available of the number in each region entitled to free school meals but it is estimated that pupils receiving free school meals represent about 80 per cent. of those entitled to them.
North 71,166 North West 134,393 Yorkshire and Humberside 81,945 East Midlands 45,513 West Midlands 80,975 East Anglia 18,994 Greater London 109,498 South East 94,589 South West 57,034 Total England 694,107