§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing the 633W expenditure on school meals for each year between 1978–79 and the latest date available, in current and constant prices.
§ Mr. ButcherThe information is given in the table:
Net expenditure on school meals and milk1—England Cash Terms £ million 1986–87 Real Terms2 £ million 1978–79 388 756 1979–80 422 704 1980–81 397 559 1981–82 397 509 1982–83 411 492 1983–84 427 489 1984–85 432 471 1985–86 435 450 1986–87 459 459 1 Net expenditure includes the salaries and wages of staff engaged in the preparation and supervision of the meal, the cost of food and overheads less the income received from pupils and adults who pay for their meals. It does not include any capital or capital financing costs. The figures include the costs of the school milk service which have not been collected separately since 1981–82. 2 The cash figures for the earlier years have been repriced to 1986–87 real terms using the gross domestic products (market prices) deflator.