Free School Meals

James Purnell
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children will be entitled to free school meals under the Government's new child tax credits from April. [101142]

Mr. Stephen Twigg
From 6 April 2003, we estimate that 1.2 million children in England will be entitled to receive free school lunches. This estimate includes around 162,000 children who will be entitled to receive free school lunches because their parents claim the new child tax credits. This figure includes 75,000 new recipients who would not have previously benefited from this entitlement.

Mr. Tony Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Northampton, South are entitled to free school meals; and what the average is in English constituencies. [100785]

Mr. Stephen Twigg
The latest information available is shown in the table:-----------
|Year     |
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|1995–96  |
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|1996–97  |
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|1997–98  |
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|1998–99  |
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|1999–2000|
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|2000–01  |
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|2001–023 |
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Note:

Numbers have been rounded to the nearest hundred.

Gregory Barker
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students have been enrolled in (a) higher and (b) further education in each academic year since 1997–98. [96702]

Margaret Hodge
The latest information is shown in the table.

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|1997–98  |
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|1998–99  |
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|1999–2000|
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|2000–01  |
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|2001–02  |
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