House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 04 July 2006 (pt 1428)

School Meals

Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of primary school pupils (a) were eligible for free school meals and (b) took them up in each local education authority in the last year for whichfigures are available, listed in ascending order of percentage; and what the equivalent figures were in 1997. [82127]

Jim Knight: The available information is shown in the following table.

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Maintained primary schools: number and percentage of pupils by school meal arrangements. Position in January each year: 1997 and 2006 (provisional). By local authority area. (In ascending order of the percentage of pupils who were known to be eligible for free school meals as at January 2006)
		1997
		Number of day pupils^{( 1)}	Number of pupils taking a free school meal on the Census Day	Percentage of pupils taking a free school meal on the Census Day^{( 2)}	Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals^{( 3)}
	England⁽⁵⁾	4,428,620	771,780	17.4	938,540	21.2
420	Isles of Scilly	160	17	10.6	19	11.9
857	Rutland⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
872	Wokingham⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
836	Poole⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
825	Buckinghamshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
835	Dorset⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
938	West Sussex	58,168	5,941	10.2	7,496	12.9
925	Lincolnshire	53,619	3,830	7.1	4,597	8.6
867	Bracknell Forest⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
865	Wiltshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
314	Kingston upon Thames	11,530	717	6.2	856	7.4
855	Leicestershire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
868	Windsor and Maidenhead⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
869	West Berkshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
936	Surrey	78,690	6,637	8.4	7,871	10.0
803	South Gloucestershire	22,571	2,259	10.0	2,745	12.2
815	North Yorkshire	47,927	4,435	9.3	5,110	10.7
933	Somerset	38,509	3,855	10.0	4,624	12.0
919	Hertfordshire	92,397	9,452	10.2	11,259	12.2
811	East Riding of Yorkshire	27,126	2,546	9.4	3,158	11.6
884	Herefordshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
873	Cambridgeshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
885	Worcestershire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
850	Hampshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
866	Swindon⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
893	Shropshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
931	Oxfordshire	44,733	4,012	9.0	5,008	11.2
318	Richmond upon Thames	12,074	1,188	9.8	1,611	13.3
877	Warrington⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
928	Northamptonshire	54,701	4,940	9.0	6,384	11.7
916	Gloucestershire	46,248	4,929	10.7	6,151	13.3
937	Warwickshire	43,662	4,736	10.8	5,553	12.7
800	Bath and North East Somerset	13,111	1,677	12.8	2,027	15.5
816	York	14,905	1,859	12.5	2,250	15.1
878	Devon⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
860	Staffordshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
881	Essex⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
303	Bexley	22,223	3,007	13.5	3,637	16.4
802	North Somerset	14,775	1,777	12.0	2,090	14.1
935	Suffolk	47,239	5,982	12.7	7,554	16.0
820	Bedfordshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
875	Cheshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
358	Trafford	21,462	3,399	15.8	4,009	18.7
908	Cornwall	41,862	6,547	15.6	7,784	18.6
356	Stockport	26,941	3,846	14.3	4,661	17.3
886	Kent⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
887	Medway⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
311	Havering	21,001	2,459	11.7	3,088	14.7
334	Solihull	21,581	2,770	12.8	3,238	15.0
891	Nottinghamshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
845	East Sussex⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
305	Bromley	24,292	3,282	13.5	4,352	17.9
830	Derbyshire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
315	Merton	16,159	2,471	15.3	3,099	19.2
929	Northumberland	21,839	3,345	15.3	3,783	17.3
826	Milton Keynes⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
837	Bournemouth⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
909	Cumbria	44,762	6,917	15.5	7,904	17.7
319	Sutton	14,630	1,778	12.2	2,070	14.1
813	North Lincolnshire	14,972	2,485	16.6	2,879	19.2
883	Thurrock⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
926	Norfolk	66.666	8,913	13.4	10,824	16.2
351	Bury	18,095	2,769	15.3	3,319	18.3
888	Lancashire⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
381	Calderdale	20,605	3,478	16.9	4,109	19.9
332	Dudley	30,884	4,394	14.2	5,544	18.0
359	Wigan	30,276	4,838	16.0	5,623	18.6
343	Sefton	28,115	5,465	19.4	7,171	25.5
384	Wakefield	32,956	5,546	16.8	6,572	19.9
382	Kirklees	38,649	7,285	18.8	8,908	23.0
350	Bolton	28,512	5,495	19.3	6,151	21.6
851	Portsmouth⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
310	Harrow	19,971	1,643	8.2	2,265	11.3
392	North Tyneside	17,027	3,485	20.5	4,184	24.6
810	Kingston Upon Hull, City of	28,446	6,1 16	21.6	8,017	28.2
870	Reading⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
846	Brighton and Hove⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
880	Torbay⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
871	Slough⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
372	Rotherham	25,822	5,283	20.5	6,298	24.4
879	Plymouth⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
357	Tameside	23,830	5,001	21.0	5,703	23.9
808	Stockton-on-Tees	20,531	4,413	21.5	5,206	25.4
882	Southend-on-Sea⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
370	Barnsley	22,216	4,765	21.4	5,910	26.6
373	Sheffield	46,380	9,686	20.9	12,895	27.8
312	Hillingdon	22,440	2,017	9.0	2,745	12.2
874	Peterborough⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
317	Redbridge	21,103	3,204	15.2	4,036	19.1
371	Doncaster	31,343	7,198	23.0	8,280	26.4
921	Isle of Wight	7,387	1,424	19.3	1,767	23.9
383	Leeds	71,508	12,795	17.9	15,974	22.3
841	Darlington⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
840	Durham⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
894	Telford and Wrekin⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
831	Derby⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
342	St. Helens	18,027	3,733	20.7	4,275	23.7
302	Barnet	25,979	3,711	14.3	4,625	17.8
336	Wolverhampton	26,293	5,282	20.1	6,644	25.3
812	North East Lincolnshire	17,265	3,756	21.8	4,211	24.4
335	Walsall	28,743	5,896	20.5	7,081	24.6
331	Coventry	30,478	5,482	18.0	6,726	22.1
380	Bradford	42,327	8,656	20.5	10,661	25.2
394	Sunderland	30,149	7,235	24.0	8,984	29.8
333	Sandwell	32,962	7,061	21.4	8,870	26.9
807	Redcar and Cleveland	16,680	4,152	24.9	4,817	28.9
390	Gateshead	18,566	4,231	22.8	4,995	26.9
353	Oldham	25,111	5,618	22.4	6,747	26.9
805	Hartlepool	10,538	2,732	25.9	3,205	30.4
306	Croydon	30,432	6,379	21.0	7,800	25.6
852	Southampton⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
801	Bristol, City of	33,642	7,602	22.6	9,103	27.1
313	Hounslow	19,828	4,049	20.4	5,137	25.9
890	Blackpool⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
876	Halton⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
821	Luton⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
856	Leicester⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
354	Rochdale	22,354	5,373	24.0	6,470	28.9
201	City of London	208	83	39.9	107	51.4
301	Barking and Dagenham	17,883	3,873	21.7	4,712	26.3
889	Blackburn with Darwen⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
307	Ealing	27,213	5,591	20.5	6,927	25.5
320	Waltham Forest	21,411	5,387	25.2	6,715	31.4
308	Enfield	26,028	4,695	18.0	5,620	21.6
861	Stoke-on-Trent⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
344	Wirral	31.875	8,217	25.8	9,632	30.2
393	South Tyneside	16,175	4,818	29.8	5,693	35.2
304	Brent	22,478	5,696	25.3	6,420	28.6
892	Nottingham⁽⁶⁾	—	—	—	—	—
212	Wandsworth	17,874	5,175	29.0	6,305	35.3
209	Lewisham	21,984	6,370	29.0	8,052	36.6
806	Middlesbrough	17,267	4,876	28.2	5,718	33.1
355	Salford	23,828	7,019	29.5	8,128	34.1
391	Newcastle upon Tyne	22,220	7,259	32.7	8,552	38.5
340	Knowsley	19,788	6,915	34.9	8,701	44.0
341	Liverpool	49,345	16,852	34.2	20,283	41.1
309	Haringey	21,610	7,096	32.8	8,279	38.3
203	Greenwich	21,608	6,804	31.5	8,408	38.9
316	Newham	28,543	8,487	29.7	11,094	38.9
330	Birmingham	109,673	32,572	29.7	39,245	35.8
210	Southwark	23,132	8,606	37.2	10,744	46.4
213	Westminster	9,604	3,413	35.5	4,247	44.2
208	Lambeth	19,193	7,309	38.1	8.695	45.3
207	Kensington and Chelsea	6,568	2,324	35.4	3,000	45.7
204	Hackney	18,141	8,046	44.4	9,824	54.2
352	Manchester	46,356	17,956	38.7	21,431	46.2
206	Islington	16,232	6,66)3	41.0	8,049	49.6
202	Camden	11,294	4,130	36.6	5,046	44.7
205	Hammersmith and Fulham	9,465	3,763	39.8	4,440	46.9
211	Tower Hamlets	22,472	10,211	45.4	13,292	59.1
902	Bedfordshire	44,748	7,484	16.7	9,187	20.5
903	Berkshire	64,851	6,828	10.5	8,047	12.4
904	Buckinghamshire	66,291	4,227	6.4	5,641	8.5
905	Cambridgeshire	60,924	7,840	12.9	9,945	16.3
906	Cheshire	92,727	14,177	15.3	16,155	17.4
910	Derbyshire	89,462	13,507	15.1	15,468	17.3
911	Devon	84,938	13,450	15.8	16,027	18.9
912	Dorset	48,479	4,117	8.5	4,684	9.7
913	Durham	57,442	11,478	20.0	13,105	22.8
914	East Sussex	55,821	8,804	15.8	11,372	20.4
915	Essex	136,385	18,654	13.7	23,090	16.9
917	Hampshire	139.425	17,054	12.2	20.493	14.7
918	Hereford and Worcester	52,887	4,304	8.1	5,077	9.6
922	Kent	137,962	19,946	14.5	24,746	17.9
923	Lancashire	135,058	24,719	18.3	31,679	23.5
924	Leicestershire	83,027	11,251	13.6	13,623	16.4
930	Nottinghamshire	96,403	17,975	18.6	22,789	23.6
932	Shropshire	38,067	5,442	14.3	6,169	16.2
934	Staffordshire	96,437	15,286	15.9	18,213	18.9
939	Wiltshire	51,809	5,723	11.0	6,954	13.4

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		2006^{( 7)}
		Number of pupils on roll^{( 4)}	Number of pupils taking a free school meal on Census Day	Percentage of pupils taking a free school meal on the Census Day^{( 2)}	Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals^{( 3)}
	England⁽⁵⁾	4,151,970	553,560	13.3	667,180	16.1
420	Isles of Scilly	252	0	0.0	0	0.0
857	Rutland⁽⁶⁾	2,521	94	3.7	108	4.3
872	Wokingham⁽⁶⁾	12,164	419	3.4	555	4.6
836	Poole⁽⁶⁾	10,338	459	4.4	485	4.7
825	Buckinghamshire⁽⁶⁾	39,646	1,370	3.5	1,938	4.9
835	Dorset⁽⁶⁾	24,747	1,006	4.1	1,203	4.9
938	West Sussex	57,554	2,433	4.2	3,081	5.4
925	Lincolnshire	52,805	2,379	4.5	2,924	5.5
867	Bracknell Forest⁽⁶⁾	8,811	426	4.8	601	6.8
865	Wiltshire⁽⁶⁾	35,512	2,074	5.8	2,460	6.9
314	Kingston upon Thames	11,638	712	6.1	816	7.0
855	Leicestershire⁽⁶⁾	48,257	2,756	5.7	3,374	7.0
868	Windsor and Maidenhead⁽⁶⁾	8,470	451	5.3	617	7.3
869	West Berkshire⁽⁶⁾	12,045	713	5.9	896	7.4
936	Surrey	78,463	4,868	6.2	5,921	7.5
803	South Gloucestershire	22,228	1,300	5.8	1,680	7.6
815	North Yorkshire	44,563	2,858	6.4	3,460	7.8
933	Somerset	36,781	2,425	6.6	2,946	8.0
919	Hertfordshire	92,173	6,126	6.6	7,455	8.1
811	East Riding of Yorkshire	25,694	1.649	6.4	2,142	8.3
884	Herefordshire⁽⁶⁾	12,985	890	6.9	1,082	8.3
873	Cambridgeshire⁽⁶⁾	43,878	3,037	6.9	3,673	8.4
885	Worcestershire⁽⁶⁾	38,329	2,807	7.3	3,248	8.5
850	Hampshire⁽⁶⁾	97,202	6,495	6.7	8,347	8.6
866	Swindon⁽⁶⁾	16,906	1,180	7.0	1,494	8.8
893	Shropshire⁽⁶⁾	21,896	1,673	7.6	1,943	8.9
931	Oxfordshire	46,437	3,117	6.7	4,183	9.0
318	Richmond upon Thames	12,948	955	7.4	1,178	9.1
877	Warrington⁽⁶⁾	17,389	1,344	7.7	1,600	9.2
928	Northamptonshire	56,463	4,038	7.2	5,260	9.3
916	Gloucestershire	43,458	3,561	8.2	4,131	9.5
937	Warwickshire	40,986	3,296	8.0	3,989	9.7
800	Bath and North East Somerset	12,172	985	8.1	1,201	9.9
816	York	13,443	1,097	8.2	1,338	10.0
878	Devon⁽⁶⁾	53,189	4,109	7.7	5,295	10.0
860	Staffordshire⁽⁶⁾	63,925	5,396	8.4	6,465	10.1
881	Essex⁽⁶⁾	107,125	9,430	8.8	10,801	10.1
303	Bexley	20,689	1,640	7.9	2,100	10.2
802	North Somerset	14,897	1,205	8.1	1,514	10.2
935	Suffolk	45,739	3,693	8.1	4,695	10.3
820	Bedfordshire⁽⁶⁾	24,938	2,188	8.8	2,604	10.4
875	Cheshire⁽⁶⁾	54,527	4,974	9.1	5,707	10.5
358	Trafford	19,224	1,830	9.5	2,038	10.6
908	Cornwall	39,150	3,695	9.4	4,303	11.0
356	Stockport	23,415	2,219	9.5	2,653	11.3
886	Kent⁽⁶⁾	110,266	10,448	9.5	12,458	11.3
887	Medway⁽⁶⁾	22,472	2,175	9.7	2,535	11.3
311	Havering	19,402	1,618	8.3	2,217	11.4
334	Solihull	19,897	1,681	8.4	2,274	11.4
891	Nottinghamshire⁽⁶⁾	63,381	5,676	9.0	7,291	11.5
845	East Sussex⁽⁶⁾	36,289	3,491	9.6	4,232	11.7
305	Bromley	23,928	2,364	9.9	2.861	12.0
830	Derbyshire⁽⁶⁾	62,369	6,312	10.1	7,501	12.0
315	Merton	14,980	1,437	9.6	1,811	12.1
929	Northumberland	19,358	2,140	11.1	2,343	12.1
826	Milton Keynes⁽⁶⁾	20,989	1,948	9.3	2,606	12.4
837	Bournemouth⁽⁶⁾	10,525	1,054	10.0	1,321	12.6
909	Cumbria	39,741	4,457	11.2	5,066	12.7
319	Sutton	14,800	1,547	10.5	1,916	12.9
813	North Lincolnshire	13,986	1,602	11.5	1,828	13.1
883	Thurrock⁽⁶⁾	13,812	1,432	10.4	1,854	13.4
926	Norfolk	65,134	7,060	10.8	8,763	13.5
351	Bury	15,995	1,899	11.9	2,186	13.7
888	Lancashire⁽⁶⁾	93,269	11,351	12.2	12,951	13.9
381	Calderdale	18,661	2,363	12.7	2,699	14.5
332	Dudley	28,281	3,386	12.0	4,271	15.1
359	Wigan	26,162	3,303	12.6	4,076	15.6
343	Sefton	23,307	2,865	12.3	3,717	15.9
384	Wakefield	28,722	3,569	12.4	4,571	15.9
382	Kirklees	35,811	4,843	13.5	5,738	16.0
350	Bolton	25,438	3,743	14.7	4,099	16.1
851	Portsmouth⁽⁶⁾	14,071	1,775	12.6	2,299	16.3
310	Harrow	19,593	2,917	14.9	3,211	16.4
392	North Tyneside	16,171	2,301	14.2	2,653	16.4
810	Kingston Upon Hull, City of	22,033	3,081	14.0	3,620	16.4
870	Reading⁽⁶⁾	10,223	1,424	13.9	1,678	16.4
846	Brighton and Hove⁽⁶⁾	17,080	2,186	12.8	2,818	16.5
880	Torbay⁽⁶⁾	9,836	1,312	13.3	1,625	16.5
871	Slough⁽⁶⁾	11,554	1,558	13.5	1,917	16.6
372	Rotherham	23,690	3,251	13.7	4,010	16.9
879	Plymouth⁽⁶⁾	19,274	2,696	14.0	3,253	16.9
357	Tameside	20,088	3,027	15.1	3,417	17.0
808	Stockton-on-Tees	17,269	2,682	15.5	2,947	17.1
882	Southend-on-Sea⁽⁶⁾	14,152	1,896	13.4	2,450	17.3
370	Barnsley	20,433	2,936	14.4	3,556	17.4
373	Sheffield	42,561	6,157	14.5	7,435	17.5
312	Hillingdon	24,099	3,249	13.5	4,235	17.6
874	Peterborough⁽⁶⁾	15,274	2,386	15.6	2,684	17.6
317	Redbridge	24,124	3,268	13.5	4,263	17.7
371	Doncaster	27,165	4,180	15.4	4,809	17.7
921	Isle of Wight	6,995	994	14.2	1,244	17.8
383	Leeds	61,446	9,009	14.7	11,247	18.3
841	Darlington⁽⁶⁾	8,848	1,393	15.7	1,639	18.5
840	Durham⁽⁶⁾	41,360	6,451	15.6	7,751	18.7
894	Telford and Wrekin⁽⁶⁾	15,160	2,350	15.5	2,828	18.7
831	Derby⁽⁶⁾	21,605	3,396	15.7	4,089	18.9
342	St. Helens	15,575	2,432	15.6	3,021	19.4
302	Barnet	26,041	4,225	16.2	5,087	19.5
336	Wolverhampton	22,709	3,631	16.0	4,418	19.5
812	North East Lincolnshire	14,029	2,074	14.8	2,788	19.9
335	Walsall	26,077	3,964	15.2	5,216	20.0
331	Coventry	27,015	4,455	16.5	5,430	20.1
380	Bradford	51,314	8,485	16.5	10,331	20.1
394	Sunderland	24,273	4,377	18.0	4,919	20.3
333	Sandwell	29,887	4,950	16.6	6,128	20.5
807	Redcar and Cleveland	13,242	2,456	18.5	2,709	20.5
390	Gateshead	16,205	2,901	17.9	3,399	21.0
353	Oldham	23,302	4,274	18.3	4,910	21.1
805	Hartlepool	9,195	1,802	19.6	1,948	21.2
306	Croydon	29,389	4,919	16.7	6,301	21.4
852	Southampton⁽⁶⁾	16,039	2,737	17.1	3,437	21.4
801	Bristol, City of	29,374	5,282	18.0	6,373	21.7
313	Hounslow	18,924	3,505	18.5	4,116	21.8
890	Blackpool⁽⁶⁾	11,812	2,111	17.9	2,635	22.3
876	Halton⁽⁶⁾	10,170	1,978	19.4	2,277	22.4
821	Luton⁽⁶⁾	18,468	3,645	19.7	4.228	22.9
856	Leicester⁽⁶⁾	28,260	5,732	20.3	6,620	23.4
354	Rochdale	19,595	3,797	19.4	4,642	23.7
201	City of London	231	49	21.2	55	23.8
301	Barking and Dagenham	18,485	3,762	20.4	4,432	24.0
889	Blackburn with Darwen⁽⁶⁾	14,770	2,986	20.2	3,548	24.0
307	Ealing	26,059	5,101	19.6	6,276	24.1
320	Waltham Forest	21,753	4,408	20.3	5,350	24.6
308	Enfield	27,198	5,712	21.0	6,727	24.7
861	Stoke-on-Trent⁽⁶⁾	20,841	4,535	21.8	5,173	24.8
344	Wirral	26,456	5,384	20.4	6,682	25.3
393	South Tyneside	12,751	2,799	22.0	3,222	25.3
304	Brent	23,128	5,454	23.6	6.238	27.0
892	Nottingham⁽⁶⁾	23,537	5,327	22.6	6,356	27.0
212	Wandsworth	17,412	4,244	24.4	4,741	27.2
209	Lewisham	21,971	4,579	20.8	6.121	27.9
806	Middlesbrough	13,926	3,397	24.4	3,889	27.9
355	Salford	19,464	4,944	25.4	5,532	28.4
391	Newcastle upon Tyne	19.694	4,995	25.4	5,630	28.6
340	Knowsley	15,518	3,586	23.1	4,538	29.2
341	Liverpool	38,211	10,018	26.2	12,320	32.2
309	Haringey	21,964	6,127	27.9	7,189	32.7
203	Greenwich	21,206	5,484	25.9	7,070	33.3
316	Newham	30,544	8,617	28.2	10,164	33.3
330	Birmingham	101,191	28,241	27.9	33,745	33.3
210	Southwark	22,848	6,482	28.4	7,896	34.6
213	Westminster	11,021	3,662	33.2	4,028	36.5
208	Lambeth	20,096	6,402	31.9	7,492	37.3
207	Kensington and Chelsea	7,052	2,309	32.7	2,713	38.5
204	Hackney	18,051	6,002	33.3	7,038	39.0
352	Manchester	40,814	14,037	34.4	16,848	41.3
206	Islington	14,292	5,031	35.2	6,016	42.1
202	Camden	11,436	3,807	33.3	4,888	42.7
205	Hammersmith and Fulham	9,707	3,687	38.0	4,163	42.9
211	Tower Hamlets	22,397	9,651	43.1	11,798	52.7
902	Bedfordshire	—	—	—	—	—
903	Berkshire	—	—	—	—	—
904	Buckinghamshire	—	—	—	—	—
905	Cambridgeshire	—	—	—	—	—
906	Cheshire	—	—	—	—	—
910	Derbyshire	—	—	—	—	—
911	Devon	—	—	—	—	—
912	Dorset	—	—	—	—	—
913	Durham	—	—	—	—	—
914	East Sussex	—	—	—	—	—
915	Essex	—	—	—	—	—
917	Hampshire	—	—	—	—	—
918	Hereford and Worcester	—	—	—	—	—
922	Kent	—	—	—	—	—
923	Lancashire	—	—	—	—	—
924	Leicestershire	—	—	—	—	—
930	Nottinghamshire	—	—	—	—	—
932	Shropshire	—	—	—	—	—
934	Staffordshire	—	—	—	—	—
939	Wiltshire	—	—	—	—	—
⁽¹⁾ Includes dually registered pupils. Excludes boarding pupils. ⁽²⁾ The number of pupils taking a free school meal on the Census Day expressed as a percentage of the number of pupils on roll. ⁽³⁾ The number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals expressed as a percentage of the number of pupils on roll. ⁽⁴⁾ Includes dually registered pupils. Includes boarding pupils. ⁽⁵⁾ National totals have been rounded to the nearest 10. ⁽⁶⁾ Before Local Government Reorganisation. ⁽⁷⁾ Provisional. Source: Schools’ Census

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2005, Official Report, column 698W, on school meals, when he expects to decide how best to capture information about school meals provision; and what information about school meals provision is collected by his Department. [81798]

Mr. Dhanda: The Department has commissioned research to assess compliance with statutory National Nutritional Standards and to measure food consumption in maintained schools in England. A study of ‘School Meals in Secondary Schools in England’ reported in 2004 (DfES Research Report 557). A similar ‘Study of School Meals in Primary Schools in England’ has been conducted, and reported on 29 June 2006 (DfES Research Report 753).

The Annual Schools Census collects data on free school meal eligibility and take up. An internal DfES survey of local authorities (LA) was conducted in November 2005 to assess the nature of school meal provision and providers, the patter of commercial provision and contractual arrangements.

The Department has asked the School Food Trust (SFT) as part of its remit to monitor progress on school meals and report regularly to the Department. The SFT plans to collect information about school meals provision using several approaches. First, they are working with Ofsted and the national Healthy Schools Programme to develop a way of assessing whether or not the new DfES standards for school meals are being met. The intention is for this to be completed by early 2007. Second, they plan to undertake national sample surveys of primary and secondary schools’ food provision and consumption, similar to the two studies commissioned by the Department. These provide baseline information against which the change in the national profile of provision and consumption of foods in school meals can be evaluated. The timing and scale of the national sample surveys will be confirmed by the end of August 2006. Finally, the SFT has just completed a survey addressed to all local authority catering providers in England to assess school meal take-up, the costs of providing a school meal, factors believed to be associated with increases or decreases in take-up, and perceived barriers to change. The survey will be published in July 2006 and repeated annually at the end of each financial year.

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