§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children took school dinners for each of the years 1978, 1979 and for the latest date available in 1980 ; and if he 196W will show, in each case, the percentage of children receiving free meals.
§ Dr. BoysonThe information given below is for pupils in maintained schools in England and is based on the school meals census carried out on a day in the autumn terms 1978 and 1979. No information is available for 1980.
Free meals as a percentage of : Meals taken(000's) Meals taken Pupils present 1978 5,096 21.1 13.9 1979 4,855 18.5 11.9
§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the number by which school meals have fallen in primary and secondary schools in the county of Derbyshire between May 1979 and May 1980.
§ Dr. BoysonThis information is not available to the Department. I suggest the hon. Member consults the Derbyshire local education authority.