Oral Answers to Questions — Education – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 11 October 2010.
Nicholas Dakin
Labour, Scunthorpe
2:30,
11 October 2010
What estimate his Department has made of the number of children who will be eligible for free school meals in September 2010; and if he will make a statement.
Nick Gibb
Minister of State (Education)
The number of pupils of compulsory school age in maintained schools eligible for free school meals was 1,179,880 in January 2010. The Department has not produced an estimate of the number of pupils eligible for free school meals in September 2010; the figures are produced annually as part of the annual school census, completed by local authorities in January each year. Leaving time for compilation, the next set of figures will be available in May 2011.
Nicholas Dakin
Labour, Scunthorpe
I thank the Minister for his answer. He will note my interest as a former principal. Does he think it is fair that 16 to 18-year-olds attending colleges are ineligible for free school meals, when 16% in FE colleges and 10% in sixth-form colleges are from disadvantaged backgrounds, compared with only 7% in maintained schools?
Nick Gibb
Minister of State (Education)
I take on board the hon. Gentleman's comments. I share his view. We have committed to maintaining spending on free school meals this year. Further announcements will be made after the spending review.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
