To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children are not currently eligible for free school meals but would have been before the Social Security Act 1986; and what would be the gross and net costs of restoring their right to free school meals.

A variety of local education authority discretionary schemes existed prior to the implementation of the Social Security Act 1986. Consequently, it is not possible to estimate the number of children who would now be eligible for free school meals on that basis.