§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children living in the Greater London area were receiving free school meals on 1 April. [121973]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe data are not available in the form requested. Figures on the number of day pupils attending maintained schools1 in the Greater London Government Office Region who took a free meal in January this year is currently being collected. Latest estimates show that there were 226,000 such pupils, which represents 21 per cent. of the pupil population.
Final national figures will be published in the Statistical Volume "Statistics of Education: Schools in England 2000" in September, a copy of which will be available in the Library.
1 Includes pupils of all ages attending maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools, pupil referral units and all special schools in the Greater London Government Office Region.