CONFUSED council officers are withholding vital information which would allow more Swindon children to be eligible for free school meals, a Government minister has claimed.

Cabinet Office minister Jim Murphy believes that Swindon Council's social services and the education department are not sharing information because they fear they might breach the Data Protection Act.

This means parents have to fill in a massive form and a trek across town from the social services offices at Clarence House in Euclid Street to the education department at Sanford House in Sanford Street for help in registering their children for free school meals.

Having a low number of children receiving free school meals has a knock-on effect on how much education money the town receives from the Government.

Now, Mr Murphy has revealed that Government officials will meet council officers to explain the data protection laws to them.

The minister outlined the action his department is taking in a letter to South Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove.

He said: "The issues you raise are complex and it is essential that we address possible misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the Data Protection Act to ensure that children, and others in need, are not disadvantaged unnecessarily.

"My officials have been in touch with Swindon Council to arrange a meeting to discuss matters."

The minister is working with the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Information Commissioner to ensure "unfounded concerns about information-sharing are not repeated".

Mrs Snelgrove said: "Swindon has been let down for too long by a council which has no idea how many children are eligible for free school meals."

But angry Conservative councillors immediately hit back last night, claiming that it was central government which was withholding information and accusing Mrs Snelgrove of political point scoring.

Coun Garry Perkins (Con, Shaw & Nine Elms), cabinet member for children's services, said: "We do not have a misunderstanding at all.

"Some LEAs get three times as much funding as we do in Swindon.

"The Government has all the information about who is claiming benefits at the Department of Work and Pensions. They talk about joined up government but they do not know what that means.

"Anne Snelgrove has never picked up the phone to me to talk about education since she has been an MP.

"She is more interested in playing silly party politics."

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) allocates different amounts of money to each Local Education Authority (LEA) depending on how affluent it believes an area is.

In Swindon, primary schools receive funding of £2,434 per year for each child, and for secondary schools this figure is £3,127 per child.

This means each child receives about £400 less a year than children in neighbouring towns and cities like Reading, Oxford and Bristol. This is because Swindon is in a different funding category, which is perceived to be wealthier than these neighbouring authorities.