Free School Meals

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils in each (a) local education authority and (b) in each type of school received free school meals and came from single parent homes in each of the last 10 years. (151210)

The requested information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many children were (a) entitled to and (b) received free school meals in each year from 2002-03 to 2006-07; and if he will make a statement; (152141)

(2) how many free school meals have been served in each year from 1990-91 to 2006-07 in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools; and what the total (i) primary and (ii) secondary school population was in each year.

Information on the quality, availability and uptake of school meals generally is not held centrally. However, information on free school meals for maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools for January 2007 is contained in the following table:

	Maintained nursery and primary	Maintained secondary
School population	4,149,600	3,273,500
Number entitled to free school meals	659,100	429,900
Number receiving free school meals	544,300	314,700
Those receiving free school meals as a proportion of school population	13.1	9.6

Figures for earlier years are not readily available.

Also, figures from the School Food Trust’s 2006 annual survey of school meals take up in England showed that take up of school meals in 2005-06 was 42.3 per cent. in primary schools and 42.7 per cent. in secondary schools. Findings from the 2007 survey will be available in August.

Volume 463: debated on Monday 3 September 2007