Free School Meals (Hansard, 23 January 2003)

§ Mr. Stephen Twigg

I have been asked to reply.

The available information is shown in the table.

Maintained nursery, primary, secondary and all special schools¹: school meal arrangements
	Position in January each year
	Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free meals²
By local education authority, by Government office region	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
England	20.2	19.1	18.4	17.8	17.1	16.4
North East	25.8	24.9	24.1	23.4	23.1	21.4
Darlington³	⁵—	21.0	19.7	18.3	17.2	17.2
Durham⁴	21.3	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Durham³	⁵—	20.8	20.2	19.5	19.5	19.3
Gateshead	25.9	24.5	23.6	24.4	23.4	22.6
Hartlepool	30.9	28.6	26.6	26.8	25.6	24.7
Middlesbrough	35.2	34.5	32.1	32.1	32.0	31.8
Newcastle upon Tyne	34.9	33.4	32.2	31.1	30.7	28.9
North Tyneside	23.0	22.8	21.7	21.5	19.7	20.1
Northumberland	15.6	14.0	14.2	13.5	13.3	12.4
Redcar and Cleveland	28.2	26.1	26.6	25.4	23.5	23.8
South Tyneside	32.7	30.9	29.6	28.2	27.4	26.9
Stockton-on-Tees	25.1	23.8	22.4	21.9	20.7	19.6
Sunderland	28.4	29.3	29.3	28.4	31.1	20.7
North West	25.1	21.6	20.7	22.5	21.4	20.6
Blackburn with Darwen³	⁵—	⁵—	27.6	27.5	25.8	25.1
Blackpool3	⁵—	⁵—	26	25.3	24.6	24.4
Bolton	20.7	18.7	18.0	17.7	17.1	16.8
Bury	17.5	16.2	16.2	15.8	14.8	14.0
Cheshire⁴	16.0	15.5	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Cheshire³	⁵—	⁵—	12.0	12.4	11.3	10.9
Cumbria	15.9	15.4	14.3	14.6	13.7	13.1
Halton³	⁵—	⁵—	27.8	27.1	25.9	25.4
Knowsley	47.9	46.3	44.8	42.9	40.4	38.0
Lancashire⁴	22.2	21.5	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Lancashire³	⁵—	⁵—	18.8	16.9	16.0	15.5
Liverpool	41.7	40.3	38.7	38.4	37.1	34.8
Manchester	46.7	45.5	44.5	44.6	43.4	43.0
Oldham	26.0	24.5	23.5	24.2	23.0	22.9
Rochdale	28.2	26.9	27.1	25.8	24.5	24.4
Salford	33.2	31.6	30.2	29.7	28.7	27.2
Sefton	24.7	23.9	22.4	21.1	19.7	19.1
St. Helens	22.1	22.0	26.5	20.8	20.3	20.1
Stockport	17.3	16.5	14.9	14.3	13.7	13.3
Tameside	23.4	21.6	20.8	20.1	19.9	18.8
Trafford	20.1	18.1	18.4	18.0	15.2	12.6
Warrington³	⁵—	⁵—	12.7	11.5	11.0	10.5
Wigan	18.8	17.8	17.4	16.9	16.1	15.8
Wirral	28.7	27.1	28.5	29.2	28.9	27.7
Yorkshire and the Humber	21.2	20.3	19.6	19.1	18.1	17.5
Barnsley	25.8	25.2	24.7	24.2	23.0	21.3
Bradford	28.0	27.1	26.4	25.9	24.1	24.2
Calderdale	19.0	18.2	18.1	17.3	17.4	16.4
Doncaster	25.2	23.2	22.4	20.9	19.7	18.4
East Riding of Yorkshire	10.8	9.6	10.6	10.6	9.7	9.3
Kingston Upon Hull, City of	28.5	27.5	27.5	27.5	26.5	26.2
Kirklees	21.7	20.5	20.2	19.5	18.7	18.2
Leeds	21.5	20.9	20.1	19.9	18.8	18.5
North East Lincolnshire	23.0	22.8	21.6	22.8	22.6	21.3
North Lincolnshire	17.8	16.4	15.7	14.5	14.7	13.8
North Yorkshire	9.3	8.9	8.6	8.5	7.9	7.3
Rotherham	22.0	21.0	20.1	19.8	18.4	17.8
Sheffield	27.3	26.6	24.2	22.5	21.2	20.6
Wakefield	19.5	18.8	18.3	18.7	17.6	17.7
York	13.9	12.8	12.0	11.0	10.5	9.8
East Midlands	16.0	15.1	14.3	14.0	13.4	12.8
Derby³	⁵—	22.9	21.7	20.8	20.4	20.1
Derbyshire⁴	16.2	12.8	12.3	12.5	12.1	11.8
Derbyshire³	16.2	12.8	12.3	12.5	12.1	11.8
Leicester³	⁵—	24.9	23.7	23.5	23.6	23.7

492W 493W

Maintained nursery, primary, secondary and all special schools¹: school meal arrangements
	Position in January each year
	Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free meals²
By local education authority, by Government office region	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Leicestershire⁴	15.0	8.5	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Leicestershire³	⁵—	⁵—	8.3	7.9	7.6	7.0
Lincolnshire	9.8	9.4	8.1	7.8	7.7	7.3
Northamptonshire	12.7	11.9	11.6	11.4	10.5	10.2
Nottingham³	⁵—	⁵—	35.4	34.8	34.1	32.3
Nottinghamshire⁴	22.5	21.3	15.0	14.3	13.2	12.4
Nottinghamshire³	22.5	21.3	15.0	14.3	13.2	12.4
Rutland³	⁵—	6.4	6.2	5.4	5.0	4.5
West Midlands	21.0	19.6	19.1	18.8	18.6	18.1
Birmingham	35.6	34.3	33.7	33.1	33.1	32.7
Coventry	22.4	21.0	21.7	19.6	20.1	19.2
Dudley	18.0	16.9	16.2	15.9	14.9	14.6
Hereford and Worcester⁴	10.1	8.1	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Herefordshire³	⁵—	⁵—	8.1	7.3	8.1	7.5
Sandwell	26.6	24.9	23.2	24.4	24.0	22.9
Shropshire⁴	15.2	14.5	9.9	9.7	9.3	9.1
Shropshire³	15.2	14.5	9.9	9.7	9.3	9.1
Solihull	14.3	13.7	12.4	12.6	12.6	11.3
Staffordshire⁴	16.8	12.6	12.0	11.7	11.1	10.9
Staffordshire³	16.8	12.6	12.0	11.7	11.1	10.9
Stoke-on-Trent³	⁵—	26.9	27.3	27.7	27.2	25.8
Telford and Wrekin³	⁵—	⁵—	20.9	21.3	20.5	20.2
Walsall	23.8	21.3	19.8	19.1	18.0	17.6
Warwickshire	11.4	10.9	9.9	9.6	9.4	8.9
Wolverhampton	24.7	22.6	22.0	21.8	22.7	21.5
Worcestershire³	⁵—	⁵—	9.0	9.8	10.0	9.8
East of England	14.9	13.5	12.9	12.5	11.7	11.1
Bedfordshire⁴	19.4	12.5	11.7	11.2	10.8	10.5
Bedfordshire³	19.4	12.5	11.7	11.2	10.8	10.5
Cambridgeshire³	15.4	13.8	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Cambridgeshire³	⁵—	⁵—	10.1	9.5	8.9	8.2
Essex⁴	15.4	14.4	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Essex³	⁵—	⁵—	12.7	12.0	11.1	10.6
Hertfordshire	11.5	10.0	9.4	9.1	8.5	8.0
Luton³	⁵—	26.3	23.9	23.7	23.5	23.5
Norfolk	14.3	13.7	13.8	13.8	13.0	12.3
Peterborough³	⁵—	⁵—	22.2	21.4	20.2	18.6
Southend-on-Sea³	⁵—	⁵—	19.1	18.3	16.8	16.0
Suffolk	14.8	13.1	12.3	12.1	11.3	10.6
Thurrock³	⁵—	⁵—	17.7	16.9	15.4	15.0
London	29.5	28.3	27.4	27.0	26.1	25.3
Inner London	45.3	43.3	41.6	41.2	39.8	38.4
Camden	37.2	36.0	35.6	36.2	35.9	35.2
City of London	51.4	37.7	38.4	35.9	33.8	⁶
Hackney	55.5	50.1	46.3	44.1	41.3	42.1
Hammersmith and Fulham	42.3	41.3	38.4	39.6	39.2	38.2
Haringey	41.0	40.0	39.5	39.4	38.2	36.1
Islington	52.3	44.5	45.4	44.2	42.8	40.5
Kensington and Chelsea	44.0	42.0	38.5	38.6	35.8	34.6
Lambeth	47.1	45.0	42.5	41.1	39.3	37.9
Lewisham	38.5	38.4	35.2	35.8	35.3	31.5
Newham	39.1	38.7	39.1	39.6	37.9	37.7
Southwark	48.9	44.8	43.5	43.2	41.0	39.8
Tower Hamlets	61.1	60.8	59.2	60.0	58.7	55.7
Wandsworth	36.1	34.9	32.2	29.7	28.6	28.0
Westminster	43.8	42.3	39.6	36.8	35.2	34.9
Outer London	21.1	20.4	19.9	19.5	18.9	18.4
Barking and Dagenham	26.5	26.3	25.3	25.5	24.3	23.9
Barnet	17.1	16.1	16.2	16.7	16.6	15.9
Bexley	15.6	14.8	14.9	14.1	13.6	12.9

494W 495W

Maintained nursery, primary, secondary and all special schools¹: school meal arrangements
	Position in January each year
	Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free meals²
By local education authority, by Government office region	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Brent	27.8	27.5	27.6	27.2	26.2	25.7
Bromley	16.7	15.7	14.3	13.6	13.1	12.7
Croydon	24.6	23.4	22.1	21.8	20.6	20.8
Baling	27.3	26.5	26.1	26.3	26.7	25.9
Enfield	21.8	21.4	21.5	22.5	21.5	21.3
Greenwich	39.3	38.2	37.3	36.4	35.2	34.2
Harrow	13.3	13.3	13.7	13.9	13.9	14.4
Havering	13.8	13.1	12.9	12.4	11.7	11.0
Hillingdon	13.6	14.3	14.0	13.6	14.7	13.9
Hounslow	25.1	24.8	24.1	22.4	21.2	20.9
Kingston upon Thames	8.6	8.2	8.3	7.9	8.1	8.1
Merton	19.5	18.5	17.6	16.8	15.7	15.7
Redbridge	19.0	18.2	17.7	16.7	15.7	15.6
Richmond upon Thames	15.5	14.5	13.8	13.0	12.6	12.2
Sutton	11.9	11.6	11.3	10.9	10.3	9.9
Waltham Forest	32.7	31.3	29.8	28.5	28.2	26.9
South East	13.3	12.3	11.6	10.9	10.3	9.9
Berkshire⁴	11.3	10.0	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Bracknell Forest³	⁵—	⁵—	7.2	6.8	6.2	5.8
Brighton and Hove³	⁵—	22.4	21.7	20.7	18.6	17.8
Buckinghamshire³	9.4	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Buckinghamshire³	⁵—	6.4	6.6	6.6	6.4	6.4
East Sussex⁴	19.6	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
East Sussex³	⁵—	16.6	15.2	14.8	14.3	13.3
Hampshire⁴	13.5	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Hampshire³	⁵—	9.6	8.9	8.5	8.2	8.2
Isle of Wight	21.5	20.6	19.7	19.2	17.8	17.2
Kent⁴	16.4	15.4	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Kent³	⁵—	⁵—	14.4	12.7	11.9	11.3
Medway³	⁵—	⁵—	14.1	12.9	11.7	11.2
Milton Keynes³	⁵—	14.4	13.7	13.7	13.2	12.2
Oxfordshire	10.5	9.6	9.4	9.5	9.5	8.9
Portsmouth³	⁵—	20.0	18.1	17.6	17.1	16.8
Reading³	⁵—	⁵—	15.5	14.2	14.5	14.3
Slough³	⁵—	⁵—	17.3	16.6	15.8	15.5
Southampton³	⁵—	22.5	21.7	21.8	20.7	19.9
Surrey	9.4	8.6	8.0	7.8	7.1	6.9
West Berkshire³	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	6.2	5.8	5.8
West Sussex	11.4	10.5	9.8	8.6	7.6	7.2
Windsor and Maidenhead³	⁵—	⁵—	6.7	6.6	6.4	5.9
Wokingham³	⁵—	⁵—	4.8	4.4	4.6	4.3
South West	14.5	13.4	12.6	11.8	11.2	10.8
Bath and North East Somerset	13.3	12.0	11.1	10.3	9.4	8.7
Bournemouth³	⁵—	13.9	13.0	11.1	10.5	10.1
Bristol, City of	26.4	25.5	24.1	22.5	22.2	22.4
Cornwall	17.8	15.0	14.3	13.6	12.8	11.9
Devon⁴	16.7	15.9	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Devon³	⁵—	⁵—	12.3	11.4	11.6	11.0
Dorset⁴	10.1	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Dorset³	⁵—	7.9	7.5	6.5	5.6	6.4
Gloucestershire	12.2	11.0	10.1	9.5	8.7	8.8
Isles of Stilly	11.3	6.4	4.4	5.1	6.4	3.4
North Somerset	12.5	11.2	10.3	9.8	9.2	9.0
Plymouth³	⁵—	⁵—	19.6	19.2	18.0	16.5
Poole³	⁵—	10.0	9.3	8.4	7.0	6.3
Somerset	11.4	11.6	10.8	10.6	10.1	9.5
South Gloucestershire	11.8	10.5	9.4	8.4	8.1	7.7
Swindon³	⁵—	14.5	13.4	12.5	11.6	11.4
Torbay³	⁵—	⁵—	20.2	19.1	17.1	16.9
Wiltshire⁴	12.1	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—
Wiltshire³	⁵—	9.2	8.7	8.2	7.9	7.4
¹Includes Maintained and Non-Maintained special schools.
²Day pupils, excludes boarding pupils.
³After local government reorganisation.
⁴Before local government reorganization
⁵Not applicable.
⁶Not available.