§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the percentage of pupils taking(a) free school meals and (b) paid for school meals in (i) grant maintained schools and (ii) local education authority schools in the most recent years. [31513]
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe information requested is shown in the table:
Percentages of day pupils1 taking free and paid school meals in maintained primary and secondary schools in England Position in January each year LEA maintained schools Grant-maintained schools Free Paid Free Paid 1990 11 32 8 48 1991 12 31 6 45 1992 14 29 7 41 1993 16 28 9 37 1994 18 29 10 38 1 The number of day pupils who took a school meal on the census day expressed as a percentage of the number of day pupils on roll. A substantial reason for the difference in the respective percentages of pupils eligible for free school meals is the disproportionate number of LEAs with few or no GM schools who have a relatively high proportion of pupils thus eligible.