§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of the(a) women who are mothers and (b) men who are fathers who are employed by his Department have received assistance from the Department with child care. [1279]
341W
§ Sir Paul BeresfordMy Department and its executive agencies do not keep records of the number of staff who are parents but child care assistance is available to staff in the form of workplace nursery and holiday play scheme places. In the last 12 months, 40 female staff and 20 male staff were assisted with a nursery place and 72 female staff and 39 male staff with a play scheme place.
In addition, staff are entitled to the reimbursement of any additional child care costs incurred when the normal working routine is broken, for example, to attend a training course. Comprehensive records of the number of claims are not held centrally.