HC Deb 14 June 1993 vol 226 cc413-7W
Mr. Wicks

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the average price of a school meal in(a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in cash and real terms in each year since 1979.

Mr. Forth

Information is collected on the fixed charges for a standard meal in schools operating a dining centre and on the amount allowed, the "authorised spend", for each pupil receiving a free meal in schools operating a cash cafeteria system.

This information—in both cash and real terms—for each year since January 1990 is shown in the table. Information for earlier years is not readily available.

Average fixed charge or authorised spend on school meals in

maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in England:

January 1990–92 (cash and real terms)
1990 1991 Pence 1992
Primary (including nursery)
Cash terms: Fixed charge 62 73 83

Numbers and percentages of day-pupils taking paid and free school meals in maintained schools in England January 1992
Primary (including nursery) Secondary Special
Local education authority Paid Free Paid Free Paid Free
Number Per cent. Number Per cent. Number Per cent. Number Per cent. Number Per cent. Number Per cent.
Corporation of London 84 38 91 41 — — — — — — — —
Camden 3,491 33 3,291 31 2,055 20 1,762 17 73 25 143 48
Greenwich 7,096 33 5,727 27 3,302 24 2,204 16 238 35 250 36
Hackney 4,927 30 6,567 40 1,463 19 2,443 31 135 27 222 44
Hammersmith and Fulham 3,403 36 2,929 31 1,755 29 1,236 21 156 41 145 38
Islington 5,273 36 5,094 34 1,102 14 1,806 23 115 37 131 42
Kensington and Chelsea 2,345 36 1,980 31 1,389 37 741 20 0 0 1 100
Lambeth 6,112 32 6,720 35 1,685 27 1,607 26 219 29 324 43
Lewisham 5,784 28 5,188 26 1,673 16 2,257 21 148 36 154 38
Southwark 5,455 26 7,162 34 1,448 16 2,433 27 101 28 160 45
Tower Hamlets 5,305 26 9,179 45 1,378 13 4,406 40 74 16 269 57
Wandsworth 6,111 36 4,822 28 2,960 31 1,903 20 29 42 202 39
Westminster 3,278 36 2,949 32 1,422 20 1,992 28 43 32 63 47
Barking 4,015 26 2,330 15 1,380 15 665 7 73 45 30 19
Barnet 7,524 31 2,738 11 8,385 45 1,467 8 142 45 56 18
Bexley 5,570 30 2,030 11 3,075 21 714 5 117 43 88 32
Brent 5,805 26 4,574 21 1,449 12 1,789 15 141 40 119 34
Bromley 5,437 27 2,257 11 4,996 31 1,165 7 142 40 65 18
Croydon 7,588 29 4,217 16 5,734 37 1,466 9 219 44 157 31
Ealing 4,978 18 4,830 17 3,202 29 1,831 16 173 38 138 30
Enfield 6,095 27 3,096 14 4,768 28 1,548 9 161 38 137 32
Haringey 4,815 26 4,992 27 2,286 26 2,240 26 93 27 116 34
Harrow 356 2 1,277 7 2,220 27 536 7 84 42 40 20
Havering 4,952 26 1,560 8 3,784 24 724 5 87 39 51 23
Hillingdon 1,552 8 1,436 7 3,142 23 938 7 156 39 86 21
Hounslow 5,604 29 2,942 15 5,565 42 1,600 12 173 44 90 23
Kingston upon Thames 352 3 705 7 1,569 21 340 5 99 43 37 16
Merton 2,986 20 1,982 13 1,784 24 706 10 79 32 64 26
Newham 4,563 18 5,758 23 1,032 8 2,429 18 120 35 130 38

1990 1991 Pence 1992
Authorised spend 63 75 88
At 1992–93 prices:
Fixed charge 74 81 86
Authorised spend 75 83 91
Secondary
Cash terms:
Fixed charge 65 78 89
Authorised spend 74 82 94
At 1992–93 prices:
Fixed charge 78 86 92
Authorised spend 88 91 97

Note: The cash terms figures have been re-priced into 1992–93 prices using the latest GDP (Market Prices) Deflator Index.

Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish a table showing the number and proportion of children receiving school meals broken down into(a) paid and (b) free in (i) primary school, (ii) secondary schools and (iii) special schools in each year since 1987–88.

Mr. Forth

Information on school meal arrangements in each local education authority in January 1992—the latest date for which information is available—is shown in the table. Similar information for January 1989 and subsequent years is published annually in the "Statistics of Education (Schools)" volumes, copies of which are available in the Library. Information for earlier years is not readily available.

Primary (including nursery) Secondary Special
Local education authority Paid Free Paid Free Paid Free
Number Percent. Number Percent. Number Percent. Number Per cent. Number Percent. Number Percent.
Redbridge 6,692 37 1,981 11 4,657 33 1,081 8 204 53 73 19
Richmond upon Thames 2,216 21 824 8 2,026 28 560 8 70 47 30 20
Sutton 3,138 24 1,122 9 3,975 37 552 5 84 34 54 22
Waltham Forest 5,496 28 4,355 22 2,833 23 2,102 17 336 44 214 28
Birmingham 29,766 27 32,673 30 21,990 34 15,042 23 885 32 1,327 48
Coventry 6,774 23 6,863 23 3,545 19 2,600 14 287 38 281 37
Dudley 7,180 26 3,780 14 4,662 26 1,711 10 222 39 183 32
Sandwell 7,199 23 6,727 21 3,080 17 2,329 13 276 36 328 42
Solihull 6,464 34 2,572 13 5,324 37 892 6 107 39 81 29
Walsall 9,939 35 5,823 20 5,627 30 2,786 15 230 42 207 38
Wolverhampton 4,980 20 5,445 22 1,918 12 1,870 12 173 35 187 38
Knowsley 2,455 13 6,867 37 1,836 21 2,544 29 126 22 312 55
Liverpool 9,833 19 15,828 31 4,959 17 6,888 24 374 26 670 46
St. Helens 5,710 32 3,379 19 5,012 41 1,310 11 167 36 169 36
Sefton 5,092 19 4,850 18 5,298 28 2,308 12 166 39 163 38
Wirral 7,140 23 7,391 24 6,363 30 3,849 18 243 31 305 40
Bolton 8,251 30 4,766 17 5,860 34 1,823 11 172 36 166 35
Bury 6,538 39 2,334 14 3,880 37 806 8 95 38 99 40
Manchester 12,286 26 18,506 40 5,245 22 6,154 26 405 23 734 42
Oldham 8,808 37 5,461 23 5,415 34 2,519 16 240 40 201 34
Rochdale 6,894 31 4,915 22 4,134 33 2,049 16 187 39 173 36
Salford 7,348 31 6,748 29 3,351 26 1,686 13 169 37 160 35
Stockport 8,511 33 3,588 14 8,189 45 1,495 8 156 38 118 29
Tameside 8,695 38 4,408 19 4,824 34 1,637 12 160 39 143 35
Trafford 4,063 21 2,942 15 4,656 42 1,186 11 141 35 102 26
Wigan 7,465 25 5,061 17 6,243 30 1,795 9 291 36 318 40
Barnsley 6,878 32 4,197 20 4,368 36 1,442 12 75 47 63 40
Doncaster 14,345 49 6,568 22 6,287 30 2,699 13 280 42 259 38
Rotherham 7,439 30 4,798 19 3,898 22 1,723 10 230 37 245 39
Sheffield 11,147 24 9,924 21 6,918 29 3,278 14 222 31 315 45
Bradford 13,333 33 8,984 22 14,344 32 9,588 21 343 36 310 32
Calderdale 8,409 44 3,528 18 3,659 29 1,403 11 100 50 50 25
Kirklees 13,329 37 6,185 17 8,378 32 2,742 10 260 46 205 36
Leeds 17,582 31 9,398 17 16,014 31 7,099 14 425 42 326 33
Wakefield 13,174 45 4,707 16 6,312 30 2,184 11 236 43 215 39
Gateshead 6,429 35 4,640 26 1,349 12 1,360 12 129 38 141 41
Newcastle upon Tyne 6,211 27 7,605 33 5,436 33 2,716 16 229 32 269 37
North Tyneside 5,850 36 3,017 18 5,345 36 1,526 10 211 48 161 37
South Tyneside 5,306 33 4,584 28 2,645 29 1,376 15 148 43 137 40
Sunderland 9,852 32 7,611 25 3,370 18 2,651 14 216 31 266 38
Isles of Scilly 70 40 8 5 16 17 23 25 — — — —
Avon 20,636 26 12,852 16 15,179 28 4,496 8 640 36 575 32
Bedfordshire 17,237 41 6,053 14 14,398 32 4,629 10 433 41 293 28
Berkshire 15,817 25 5,350 9 16,480 37 2,018 4 663 42 336 21
Buckinghamshire 2,356 4 3,392 6 6,004 17 1,366 4 428 33 322 25
Cambridgeshire 13,552 23 6,768 12 8,637 21 2,907 7 364 40 212 23
Cheshire 21,990 25 11,950 13 23,421 37 5,033 8 578 49 291 25
Cleveland 25,120 39 15,336 24 10,648 27 5,650 14 422 31 548 40
Cornwall 10,654 27 5,846 15 11,331 39 3,058 11 105 44 101 42
Cumbria 13,643 32 5,205 12 13,626 44 2,002 7 122 40 76 25
Derbyshire 45,598 54 11,351 13 35,585 63 4,662 8 556 44 375 30
Devon 17,797 23 11,598 15 22,238 40 4,763 8 573 36 434 28
Dorset 463 1 2,995 7 10,389 27 2,423 6 442 42 243 23
Durham 26,426 45 11,724 20 11,192 30 3,968 11 350 37 402 43
East Sussex 12,699 26 7,282 15 9,251 27 3,071 9 466 36 384 30
Essex 27,727 23 14,808 12 21,427 22 5,890 6 874 35 583 24
Gloucestershire 7,809 19 4,774 11 6,768 21 1,905 6 471 39 351 29
Hampshire 24,561 19 15,169 12 20,504 25 4,579 5 1,110 32 864 25
Hereford and Worcester 4,605 10 3,848 8 10,959 23 2,776 6 503 45 274 24
Hertfordshire 29,653 36 7,643 9 21,183 32 3,744 6 688 42 387 24
Humberside 31,231 37 13,969 17 22,085 38 6,339 11 445 40 382 34
Isle of Wight 1,894 27 1,314 19 3,167 31 1,425 14 79 31 68 27
Kent 32,177 26 15,577 13 28,554 29 6,838 7 993 36 665 24
Lancashire 32,048 25 23,320 18 30,920 37 10,430 13 1,066 35 1,102 36
Leicestershire 22,325 28 10,669 14 19,303 32 4,604 8 465 50 300 32
Lincolnshire 1,355 3 2,812 6 11,686 33 2,104 6 311 33 263 28
Norfolk 15,454 25 7,511 12 9,716 25 2,394 6 335 41 183 23
North Yorkshire 18,652 33 4,944 9 19,643 45 2,012 5 353 44 162 20
Northamptonshire 398 1 4,441 9 4,187 10 3,160 7 378 33 237 21
Northumberland 8,569 40 3,210 15 12,933 45 2,403 8 171 40 119 28
Nottinghamshire 25,810 29 15,939 18 17,321 28 6,981 11 682 42 517 32
Oxfordshire 10,228 25 3,843 9 7,746 23 2,011 6 281 36 155 20
Shropshire 12,536 36 4,924 14 10,779 41 2,088 8 204 38 176 33
Somerset 3,274 9 3,132 9 7,225 26 1,726 6 224 38 161 27

Primary (including nursery) Secondary Special
Local education authority Paid Free Paid Free Paid Free
Number Per cent. Number Per cent. Number Per cent. Number Per cent. Number Per cent. Number Per cent.
Staffordshire 33,629 36 13,618 15 16,793 25 4,946 7 897 44 623 31
Suffolk 11,382 27 4,535 11 12,197 26 3,019 6 339 51 128 19
Surrey 27,512 36 5,821 8 14,990 35 1,338 3 709 49 273 19
Warwickshire 10,842 24 4,660 10 7,863 32 1,310 5 343 30 361 31
West Sussex 15,262 30 4,922 10 10,308 26 1,910 5 475 44 205 19
Wiltshire 8,986 20 4,676 10 9,433 29 1,987 6 247 43 145 25
ENGLAND 1,131,050 27 681,167 16 865,313 30 294,297 10 31,435 37 26,504 32