Written question asked by Nigel Evans (Conservative) on Wednesday, 2 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 November 2005. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Thursday, 10 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Free School Meals

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schoolchildren in (a) Ribble Valley and (b) Lancashire are eligible for free school meals; and what the take-up has been in each year since 1997.

Answer

[holding answer 7 November 2005]: The information requested is shown in the tables.

Maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools: School meal arrangements—position in January each year: 1997 to 2005—Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency⁽³²⁾
	Maintained nursery and primary
	Number on roll	Pupils taking free school meals	Percentage taking free school meals	Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals
1997	8,126	460	5.7	605	7.4
1998	8,406	466	5.5	593	7.1
1999	8,580	441	5.1	593	6.9
2000	8,541	357	4.2	447	5.2
2001	8,467	344	4.1	423	5.0
2002	8,716	326	3.7	402	4.6
2003	8,581	313	3.6	363	4.2
2004	8,587	316	3.7	405	4.7
2005	8,524	292	3.4	356	4.2

	Maintained secondary
	Number on roll	Pupils taking free school meals	Percentage taking free school meals	Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals
1997	7,681	778	10.1	1,029	13.4
1998	7,813	717	9.2	1,011	12.9
1999	7,982	779	9.8	1,001	12.5
2000	8,160	742	9.1	903	11.1
2001	8,348	697	8.3	840	10.1
2002	8,463	678	8.0	821	9.7
2003	8,610	677	7.9	758	8.8
2004	8,749	661	7.6	752	8.6
2005	8,819	583	6.6	688	7.8
Source: Annual Schools' Census
⁽³²⁾ Includes middle schools as deemed.
⁽³³⁾ Prior to 2003 ‘Number on roll' includes all full and part time pupils who are solely registered, excluding boarding pupils. Due to underlying changes in data collection, this coverage was extended to also include all pupils with dual (main) registration and boarding pupils from 2003.
⁽³⁴⁾ Based upon school level numbers of pupils who had a free school meal on the day of the census in January.

Maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools: School meal arrangements—position in January each year: 1997 to 2005—Lancashire local authority⁽³⁵⁾
	Maintained nursery and primary
	Number on roll	Pupils taking free school meals	Percentage taking free school meals	Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals
1997	138,611	24,728	17.8	31,804	22.9
1998	138,441	23,901	17.3	30,805	22.3
1999	108,733	16,093	14.8	20,995	19.3
2000	106,522	14,586	13.7	18,339	17.2
2001	105,137	13,526	12.9	16,966	16.1
2002	103,296	13,243	12.8	16,218	15.7
2003	101,077	13,172	13.0	15,578	15.4
2004	99,100	12,854	13.0	15,545	15.7
2005	97,142	11,979	12.3	14,396	14.8

	Maintained secondary
	Number on roll	Pupils taking free school meals	Percentage taking free school meals	Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals	Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals
1997	87,257	11,777	13.5	17,675	20.3
1998	88,228	11,619	13.2	17,166	19.5
1999	72,793	8,943	12.3	12,572	17.3
2000	74,219	9,431	12.7	11,642	15.7
2001	74,814	8,941	12.0	11,182	14.9
2002	75,387	8,762	11.6	10,921	14.5
2003	76,412	8,819	11.5	10,749	14.1
2004	76,694	8,979	11.7	10,596	13.8
2005	75,951	8,323	11.0	9,850	13.0
Source: Annual Schools' Census
⁽³⁵⁾ Includes middle schools as deemed.
⁽³⁶⁾ Prior to 2003 ‘Number on roll' includes all full and part time pupils who are solely registered, excluding boarding pupils. Due to underlying changes in data collection, this coverage was extended to also include all pupils with dual (main) registration and boarding pupils from 2003.
⁽³⁷⁾ Based upon school level numbers of pupils who had a free school meal on the day of the census in January.
⁽³⁸⁾ Before local government reorganisation.

Secondary information