asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the number of children in Scotland who received free school meals in each year from 1973–74; and if he will include estimates from 1978–79.

The information is as follows:

Year	Number (000's)
1973–74	130
1974–75	122
1975–76	117
1976–77	118
1977–78	156
1978–79	160 (estimate)

Apart from 1978–79 the figures are taken from the main school meals census and relate to children taking meals on a day in January each year.