§ Mr. Tomlinsonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when the report of the Committee on Catering Arrangements in Schools will be published; and if he will make a statement.
122W
§ Mr. MulleyThe report of the Committee on Catering Arrangements in Schools is being published today together with the corresponding Scottish Report and the report of the Working Party on the Nutritional Aspects of School Meals. Copies of the reports are available in the Library. The committees which made these reports were set up by the previous Conservative administration and the main reports were presented to Ministers of that administration, but had not been published when the change of Government took place.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I will be seeking the views of local authority associations and other interested bodies on these reports in due course. The Government are not committed to their recommendations and in considering them both they and the local authorities will need to take account of the economic situation and of the implications which they have for expenditure on the catering service in schools.