§ Mr. Clayasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will estimate the cost of extending free school meals to all pupils in primary schools, to all pupils in secondary schools and to all pupils in special schools.
§ Mr. DunnThe additional cost of providing free school meals for all pupils in maintained schools is estimated to be about £600 million. It is not possible to give separate figures for each sector.
§ Mr. Clayasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will publish a table showing the amount spent by local authorities on (a) school transport and (b) school meals in the latest year for which figures are available; and what are the comparable figures for each year since 1978–79 in cash terms and real terms using 1986–87 prices and using an index of 100 for 1978–79.
§ Mr. DunnThe information requested is as follows:
313W
School transport School meals Cash terms £ million Real terms £ million Index £ million Cash terms £ million Real terms £ million Index 1978–79 109.8 213.5 100 376.0 731.0 100 1979–80 126.3 210.2 98 409.2 680.8 93 1980–81 149.7 210.0 98 391.2 548.7 75 1981–82 159.2 203.3 95 391.1 499.5 68 1982–83 168.1 200.2 94 411.3 489.8 67 1983–84 177.1 201.9 95 426.6 486.3 67 1984–85 179.3 196.0 92 431.7 471.9 65 1985–86 187.4 193.0 90 434.9 448.0 61 NoteThe cash figures have been repriced to 1986–87 real terms using the gross domestic product (market prices) deflator.