Nursery Education (Hansard, 24 April 1995)

§ 14. Mr. Rowlands
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the development of nursery education. [18735]

§ Mr. Richards
As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear last October, the Government are committed to ensuring that there is a place in nursery education for every four-year-old whose parents want to take it up. We are considering carefully how to deliver that commitment in Wales.

§ Mr. Rowlands
We do not want another half-baked education experiment with vouchers. We want nursery education that will reach many wards and communities in my area, and others, which have no provision of nursery education at all.

§ Mr. Richards
The only half-baked ideas that I have heard on education in the House have came from the 514 Opposition. As for vouchers, we are considering an awful lot of options at the moment. Nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out.

§ Mr. Knapman
Could the benefits of nursery education be made available to Mr. Howard Davies, the new deputy governor of the Bank of England, as surely that is the most bizarre appointment since Caligula made his horse a consul?

§ Madam Speaker
Order. I had a hunch that the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Knapman) was going to be miles away from the question, and he had a twinkle in his eye. That matter is certainly not relevant to the question. Let us have a sensible question.