§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing gross income equivalents which will entitle families of different sizes to free school meals after next November, using the new scale shown in part III of Statutory Instrument, 1979 No. 695, and assuming that the father can claim £10 a week in travel expenses, £4 a week life assurance, £3 a week trade union dues, £28 a week mortgage, and £3 a week in rates.
§ Dr. BoysonI shall reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible. The information requested cannot be produced within the prescribed timetable.
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§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the number of children who will be entitled to free school meals after November next; and how this compares with the number entitled in 1960, 1965, 1970 and each year since 1975.
§ Dr. BoysonNo estimates are available about entitlement before 1973 or after November next. In 1976, the latest year for which information is available, it is estimated that just over 1 million children in England and Wales were entitled to free meals; any such estimate is subject to a substantial margin of uncertainty.
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he is satisfied with the present arrangement whereby the owner-occupier with a mortgage can claim free school meals for his children at a substantially higher level of gross income than for tenants of rented accommodation.
§ Dr. BoysonMy right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to change the present arrangements for determining entitlement to free school meals, which we based on net disposable income rather than on gross income.