HC Deb 24 January 1979 vol 961 cc123-4W
Mr. Arnold Shaw

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if the results of the October 1978 census of school milk are now available.

Miss Margaret Jackson

In October, 1,675,000 pupils in maintained special schools and pupils in other maintained schools in England who were entitled to it on grounds of age were receiving free school milk, representing 94.4 per cent. of the age group present on the day of the census. In addition, 1,018,000 primary pupils over the age of 7, in 55 LEAs, were receiving free milk under the new discretionary powers available to local education authorities and 23,000 such pupils were receiving free milk provided by 28 non-education authorities under their "free-rate" powers. A further 14,000 pupils in this age group were receiving free milk on health grounds.