asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if the results of the October 1978 census of school meals are now available; and how they compare with those of the census carried out in October 1977.
The information is as follows:
A detailed statement of the returns from local education authorities on which those figures are based is being placed in the Library.
The census also collected information about pupils purchasing snack meals in school and those bringing their own food to eat at mid-day. The numbers were 33,000 and 880,000 respectively, compared with 27,000 and 1,025,000 in 1977.
On the day of the census, school dinners were taken by 75 per cent. of all pupils present in primary schools (70·5 per cent. in 1977) and by 53·9 per cent. of all pupils present in secondary schools (50·3 per cent. in 1977). Of the total number of snack meals, 98 per cent. were purchased in secondary schools (89 per cent. in 1977) and 16 per cent. of secondary pupils brought sandwiches compared with 8 per cent. of primary pupils (17 per cent. and 10 per cent. in the previous year).