§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the income qualifications for the receipt of free school meals in each education authority in Scotland.
Number of pupils taking school meals Uptake as percentage of all pupils at school on the Census day Number of pupils receiving free school meals Uptake of free meals as percentage of all pupils at school on the Census day 1981 Scotland 329,667 37.9 114,711 13.2 Tayside 19,631 30.2 5,610 8.6 1982 Scotland 316,212 38.4 124,547 15.1 Tayside 20,042 31.6 6,597 10.4 1983 (provisional) Scotland 311,370 38.2 132,953 16.3 Tayside 20,470 33.0 7,380 11.9 No information on the numbers, separately, of primary and secondary school pupils taking school meals is available prior to 1982. The figures for 1982 and 1983 are as follows:
116W
Number of pupils taking school meals Uptake as percentage of all pupils at school on the Census day Number of pupils receiving free school meals Uptake of free school meals as percentage of all pupils at school on the Census day 1982 Scotland: Primary 198,549 43.5 77,593 17.0 Secondary 106,425 30.7 39,454 11.4 Tayside: Primary 11,474 32.9 4,082 11.7 Secondary 7,205 27.1 1,781 6.7 1983 (provisional) Scotland:
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe annual census of school meals taken in January 1983 shows that education authorities provide free school meals in terms of the following qualifications:
(a) Authorities who provide free meals for children whose families receive supplementary benefit or family income supplement Borders* Grampian Highland Lothian Tayside * Criteria also include those receiving unemployment benefit.
(b) Authorities who also provide free meals on the basis of an income scale Central Shetland Dumfries and Galloway Strathclyde Fife Western Isles Orkney Details of the income scales adopted by these authorities as criteria for provision of free school meals are not available centrally.
§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current number and percentage of schoolchildren in Tayside and Scotland receiving school meals; what are the respectively corresponding figures for free school meals; if he will disaggregate the information for both primary and secondary sectors; and how these figures compare with each of the previous two years.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe information, which is taken from the annual census of school meals held each January, is as follows:
117W
Number of pupils taking school meals Uptake as percentage of all pupils at school on the Census day Number of pupils receiving free school meals Uptake of free school meals as percentage of all pupils at school on the Census day Primary 190,536 43.9 82,066 18.9 Secondary 109,476 32.1 43,053 12.6 Tayside: Primary 11,751 35.1 4,582 13.7 Secondary 7,760 29.8 2,096 8.0 The balance of the 1982 and 1983 totals for all pupils is accounted for by nursery and special school pupils.