§ Mr. HainTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the entitlement to free school meals in the United Kingdom from 1975 to the latest available date expressed(a) numerically and (b) in percentage terms, indicating the figures for (1) primary school pupils, (2) secondary school pupils and (3) total pupils. [40218]
§ Mrs. GillanInformation on the number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals was collected from maintained schools in England for the first time in January 1993. Information for years since then is shown in the table.
Information on pupils elsewhere in the United Kingdom is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and, for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
monitoring activities the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food undertook water sampling at a number of locations in the North channel earlier this year. The analysis of these samples show that water quality is not impaired.