HC Deb 13 November 1996 vol 285 cc352-3
15. Mr. Touhig

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much she plans to spend on publicity relating to the national implementation of the nursery voucher scheme.[2085]

Mr. Robin Squire

The estimated budget for publicity about the nursery education voucher scheme in England, up to its initial implementation, is —1,900,000—or 0.25 per cent. of total estimated expenditure on the scheme. The publicity will include essential information for more than 650,000 parents and some 40,000 providers of nursery education.

Mr. Touhig

That is in addition to the —1.1 million spent on promoting the pilot scheme. Does the Minister agree that Britain's four-year-olds are more deserving of taxpayers' revenue than the advertising industry? If he does, how does he justify spending —3 million on advertising the nursery voucher scheme when that amount could provide an extra 2,500 nursery places?

Mr. Squire

The hon. Gentleman has obviously been asleep. Next year, a total of —750 million will be spent on nursery places, of which —165million will be new money and go only into pre-school provision. To ensure that parents and, indeed, providers are able to take full advantage of the scheme, it is essential—indeed, it would be a dereliction of duty by the Government if we did not ensure it—that, as in phase 1, parents are able to see the expansion of places and the enhancement of opportunity.

Mr. Hawkins

Does my hon. Friend agree that the best way in which to publicise the great success of the nursery voucher scheme would be to ask the parents of children who have benefited from the vouchers in the pilot areas, such as Norfolk and various London boroughs, to publicise it? Will he join me in inviting the Labour party to condemn the schools in Labour and Liberal Democrat-controlled LEAs that have tried to blackmail parents by telling them that they can send their children to the popular state schools only if they attend the authorities' nurseries, thus destroying the choice that many parents want to exercise through nursery vouchers as between state and private sector nurseries? Are not we about choice and diversity and the Opposition, as always, about trying to force parents down the state road only?

Mr. Squire

My hon. Friend is right in both his main points. One of many interesting statistics that were published today is the independent survey of parental opinion which shows that vouchers are popular with parents in phase 1. I have no doubt that they will be popular in phase 2. On his second point, the concern that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have about the possibility of LEAs or individual schools acting in the way he described has led to our writing a letter to every LEA reminding them that simply cramming more four-year-olds into overcrowded reception classes will not necessarily be the best way forward, and encouraging them to draw on the examples of authorities such as Shropshire, Norfolk and York, which have already recognised the advantages of partnership.

Mr. Blunkett

Was it not this Government who removed the minimum space requirements—a policy that has allegedly led to the cramming of children into reception classes? Is it not a fact that no one has ever had to advertise nursery places, only nursery vouchers? The use of £900,000 of public money on television and radio advertising out of the £3 million total budget is nothing short of a scandalous and blatant political exercise to try to win votes.

Mr. Squire

I think that the hon. Gentleman is wrong on every material particular. He is certainly wrong to suggest that the advertisements are in some way party political. [Interruption.] If those hon. Members who disagree had seen the advertisements, they would know that they are as party political as the weather forecast, but slightly more interesting.

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) for his campaign attacking nursery vouchers. I am enormously relieved that he is giving us so much extra free publicity, reminding parents across the country what they will lose if Labour gets in at the next election.