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r
days and Sundays to children considered by the Medical
Officer to require additional nourishment.
Meals were supplied on five days a week all the year
round including holiday periods at all centres except the
voluntary centre in Kilburn, which was closed for certain
short holiday periods during the year.
The total number of meals supplied in 1916 was
68,276, as compared with 179,058 in 1915, and 236,465 in
1914. In addition 1,024 special meals were supplied in 1916
as compared with 551 in 1915, and none in 1914.
The total number of individual children fed during 1916
was 842, or 3.27 per cent. of the children on the roll, as compared
with 1,839, or 7.6 per cent in 1915.
A statement as to the payments made within the period
from the 1st April, 1915, to the 31st March, 1916, is given in
Appendix K. III. From this it will be seen that the average
total cost for dinners was 4 861d., as compared with 2.938d.
in the preceding financial year, and the average cost for food
only for dinners was 2.l74d. during the financial year ended
31st March, 1916, as against 1.497 during the previous financial
year.
Having regard to the increased cost of food and the fall
in the numbers of children fed during the year under review,
the Committee instructed the Medical Officer to report on the
economic circumstances of families in relation to the provision
of school meals, and his reports on this matter are
dated 18th September and 20th November, 1916, and appear
in Appendices F. and G.
From these Reports it will be observed that after deducting
rent and insurance, the average cost of upkeep per
week of a child of ten years, is as follows:—