§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the percentage and number of children receiving(a) free school meals and (b) parentally paid for school meals for the last 10 years in England. [28439]
§ Mr. Robin SquireInformation on school meal arrangements in maintained schools in England since 1989 is shown in the table. Information prior to 1989 is not available on a comparable basis although results of earlier school meals censuses were published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in, for example, "School Meal Statistics at October 1988" copies of which are available in the Library.
Number and percentages1 of day-pupils taking paid and free school meals in maintained schools2 in England 1989–94 Position in January each year Paid Free Number Percentage Number Percentage 1994 1,980,295 27 1,217,126 17 1993 1,956,106 27 1,137,895 16 1992 2,001,644 28 998,872 14 1991 2,130,350 31 819,058 12 1990 2,203,226 32 762,486 11 1989 2,205,181 32 776,900 11 1 The number of day pupils who took a paid or free meal on the census day expressed as a percentage of the number of day pupils on roll. 2 Excludes sixth form colleges which ceased to be classified as schools in April 1993.