§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the use of the cut-off date of 31 March for the calculation of the funding for nursery school entitlement on(a) children born in April and (b) the number of children in playgroups and nursery schools in the summer term; [30525]
(2) if he will review the date of 31 March as the cut-off date for funding of nursery school entitlement for the summer term. [30527]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisIn 1997–98, all children are eligible for nursery education grant for the three terms before they reach compulsory school age. The dates used to distinguish when children came into scope for the grant were set at 1 September, 1 January and 1 April because many local education authorities already use similar dates for their own purposes. We have since consulted on the dates which should be used to define compulsory school age, and hence the end of the period of eligibility. Seventy-six per cent. of respondents thought that the proposed dates of 1 September, 1 January and 1 April were appropriate. These eligibility dates, which come into effect from September 1998, do not affect providers' ability to admit children earlier.