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BACKGROUND NOTES
1. There were 21 schools (with an average of 10 pupils each) in which no pupils took a school meal, as these schools either share their kitchen facilities and have their figures subsumed under another school or do not provide meals due to low school roll. These are excluded from tables 1-19 in the publication with exception of Table 7. These schools were included in some data from Table 20 onwards.
2. Entitled/registered figures for special schools may be unreliable, as all pupils in the school may be automatically given free school meals. They have therefore not been published in the local authority tables.
3. Figures for primary schools may include some nursery school pupils attending primary schools.
4. The rural/urban classifications in Table 5 are defined as in the Scottish Household Survey, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/07/29152642/0
5. The information in this publication is used for benchmarking performance, and is used in calculating the distribution of grant support to local authorities. Registration for free school meals is widely used as an indicator of deprivation, which can be seen to be linked to attainment levels, attendance rates etc.
Trial on free school meal provision to P1-P3
6. A trial took place in five local authorities (East Ayrshire, Fife, Glasgow, Scottish Borders and West Dunbartonshire) in 2007/08 where all P1-P3 pupils were provided with free school meals. Uptake rates in the trial authorities among P1-P3 pupils increased from 53% to 75% and among all primary pupils from 50% to 60% during the trial 2. This has had a noticeable effect on the national uptake rates, both for primary and overall, as calculated through the school meals survey. To aid comparability over time, therefore national figures based on the 27 non-trial authorities have been provided both in Tables 3 and 13 which show time series on primary and overall uptake rates.
Registration and entitlement
7. This survey shows the number of pupils actually registered for free school meals. Local Authorities are also issued with agreed guidance to allow for a figure to be given for those pupils whom they understand to be entitled to free school meals but who are not registered as such on their systems. Some authorities returned the same number of pupils registered as entitled (generally those showing zero in the third column of tables 9 and 15). This should not be interpreted as meaning that these authorities have managed to achieve complete registration of eligible pupils, but rather that they have not identified any non-registered pupils. The Scottish Government is working with local authorities to develop good practice to ensure that those eligible for free school meal entitlement are registered.
8. Pupils entitled to free school meals are those within families who receive Income Support ( IS) or Income-based Job Seekers Allowance ( IBJSA). Those within families who receive support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 may also be entitled. Children who receive IS or IBJSA in their own right are also entitled to receive free school meals. Also entitled are children whose parents or carers receive Child Tax Credit, do not receive Working Tax Credit and had an annual income (as assessed by the Inland Revenue) of below £15,575 in 2008/09.
Healthy eating
9. This publication also gives information on:
- Anonymised system: whether there is a system in the school that protects the identity of pupils receiving free school meals. 3
- Drinking water: whether schools provide free drinking water available at all times. 4
- Free fruit: whether the school has extended the Free Fruit in Schools scheme where P1 and P2 pupils are supplied with free fruit at least three times per week, in addition to any fruit provided as part of the lunch.
10. For the purpose of the survey, breakfast clubs were defined as; "supervised provision of food to some or all pupils before the beginning of the school day, whether provided free or at a charge".
Expenditure Data
11. Data relates to the previous financial year, and hence may give different messages from the survey data. The finance data more closely relates to the results of the 2008 survey. The trial on P1-P3 provision of free school meals (see background note 6) should be taken into account when comparing trial authorities' figures over time.
12. Caution should be taken if making inter-authority comparisons of the expenditure data as each authority may include/exclude different elements of expenditure in their figures.
13. The figures represent the gross expenditure ( i.e. not taking account of any income from school meals).
14. Figures are calculated based on final outturn data returned by the 32 Scottish local authorities, but before audit. Therefore there may be small differences when comparing to final audited local authority figures. Blanket guidance for definitions of what should be recorded under "gross expenditure on school meals" is not provided. We expect that in some cases the figures do not include some elements of operating costs (property/admin costs etc.)
15. STOs (Significant Trading Operations) or PPP contracts may also be a factor. In some authorities the meals service will be managed by STOs, which means that the only cost that the education department incurs is the cost of free meals which is billed to the education department by the caterers.
General
16. This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.
17. The following symbols are used in the publication:
- | = | zero or rounds to zero |
.. | = | not available |
# | = | not applicable |
* | = | disclosive data (concerning fewer than 5 individuals) 5 |
18. This report was edited by: Isabella de Wit and James Boyce.
19. All tables are available on the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/0000737
Enquiries or comments
20. Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this News Release should be addressed to:
Isabella de Wit,
Pupil and School Statistics,
Scottish Government,
Area 1B (mail 27),
Victoria Quay,
Edinburgh EH6 6QQ.
Telephone 0131 244 0300
or email school.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
21. Media enquiries about the information in this News Release should be addressed to:
Tom Whittles
Telephone 0131 244 2530
Statistics Publication Notice
23 rd June, 2009
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