§ Mr. Nigel Spearing (Newham, South)I beg leave to present a petition on national nursery education. The petition was initiated by three Newham parents—Sylvia Pack, Terence Burns and Alan Clark—and has been supported by 106,676 citizens of the United Kingdom, 16,000 of whom come from Scotland. It is supported by prominent Members of all three major parties on both sides of the House, by the national campaign for nursery education, the campaign for state education, the national child care campaign and the Fawcett Society. The petition reads:
Whereas there is a widespread acceptance of the value of early learning for all children under five, particularly through proven methods of Nursery Education, as a means of improving social and educational standards; that nevertheless there is a widespread national concern at the shortage of resources available for this public provision, consequent upon recent changes in the funding of national education, which is now reducing the quality range and effect of this vital service;That there is now urgent necessity for a statutory duty to be laid upon all Local Education Authorities to provide sufficient places to meet the demand for nursery education, which by using resources at the most critical and cost-effective time can further the objective of Her Majesty's Government to provide all the nation's children with a firm basis for later educational success and social responsibility;Wherefore your petitioners pray that your Honourable House urge Her Majesty's Government to ensure that all necessary resources are made available to education authorities to enable the Government and your Honourable House to discharge their responsibilities to both parents and children of today, and to the citizens of tomorrow.
§ To lie upon the Table.