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Mr. D. E. Thomas
asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many schoolchildren in England are entitled to free school meals; what proportion of the total school population in England this represents; and if he will list the number and proportion of schoolchildren in England entitled to free school meals within each education authority.
Mr. Macfarlane
The actual number of children entitled to free meals is not known but, based on analysis of data from the 1976 family expenditure survey, it is estimated that about 1·09 million children in England and Wales were entitled to free school meals. A separate figure for Wales is not available. This
| Age 17 at 31 December | Age,16 but over school leaving age | ||||||
| Academic year | Number (000s) | Percentage of population | Number (000s) | Percentage of population | |||
| 1968–69 | … | … | … | 163 | 24·7 | — | — |
| 1969–70 | … | … | … | 173 | 26·2 | — | — |
| 1970–71 | … | … | … | 182 | 27·2 | — | — |
| 1971–72 | … | … | … | 188 | 28·1 | — | — |
| 1972–73 | … | … | … | 192 | 28·7 | — | — |
| 1973–74 | … | … | … | 196 | 28·4 | 174 | 36·0 |
| 1974–75 | … | … | … | 206 | 28·9 | 189 | 38·1 |
| 1975–76 | … | … | … | 226 | 30·8 | 211 | 41·9 |
| 1976–77 | … | … | … | 235 | 31·8 | 218 | 42·3 |
| 1977–78 | … | … | … | 245 | 32·4 | 221 | 41·6 |