To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school kitchens have been (a) closed and (b) converted to other uses since May 1997; and whether the new resources announced on 30 March for improving school meals includes funding available to re-open closed kitchens.

Information on the closure or conversion of school kitchens should be held locally; and we do not collect it centrally. The £280 million announced on 30 March is revenue funding to transform the quality of school meals in England and set up the new School Food Trust. We have already announced substantial capital investment most of which can be used to improve kitchen and dining facilities of English schools.