HC Deb 21 December 1984 vol 70 cc352-3W
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will convert the expenditure figures on school meals in table 2:10 of the Government's Expenditure Plans 1984–85 to 1986–87 to 1983–84 constant prices.

Mr. Dunn

The information is as follows. 1983–84 constant prices are obtained by adjusting the cash figures from table 2:10 of the Government's Expenditure Plans (Cmnd. 9143) by the latest forecasts for the GDP deflator at market prices.

Cash 1983–84 constant prices
£ million £ million
1978–79 376 639
1979–80 409 594

Cash 1983–84 constant prices
£ million £ million
1980–81 391 479
1981–82 390 434
1982–83 404 422
1983–84 414 414
1984–85 257 245
1985–86 270 247
1986–87 270 237

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children received, or are expected to receive, school meals in each year from 1984–85 to 1986–87; and what proportion of the school population this represents.

Mr. Dunn

In October 1983, the latest date for which firm census figures are available, 3,481,837 children received school meals; this represented 51.4 per cent. of the pupils in school on the day of the census. The figures for October 1984 will be available shortly. The number of children receiving school meals in future years will depend upon a number of variable factors and cannot be estimated precisely.