§ Mr. Gerald HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the cost of(a) free school meals and (b) clothing grants and other subsidies for children attending maintained schools in (i) 1970, (ii) 1980 and (iii) 1999; and if he will estimate how many children in receipt of such benefits came from broken homes. [119771]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Department does not collect this information. However, using data on school meals take-up, we estimate that the cost of providing free school meals in England in the 1999–2000 financial year was over £300 million. The Department did not collect statistics on the take-up of free school meals before 1989, so we cannot estimate their cost in 1970 and 1980. Under education legislation, local education authorities and schools must offer free school meals to those pupils whose parents receive income support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. We do not collect data on the numbers of eligible pupils from broken homes.
Local education authorities have discretionary powers to offer clothing grants and other miscellaneous subsidies to children in cases of hardship. It is for each authority to set its own eligibility criteria for grant, in the light of local needs and circumstances. The Department does not collect data on these grants.