§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the parliamentary constituencies which he has allocated as education action zones broken down into(a) urban and (b) rural areas. [72057]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisEducation Action Zones are not allocated according to political constituencies, but reflect the groups of schools involved. The current 25 Education Action Zones occur mainly in urban areas; in two zones— Norfolk and North Somerset, the zone covers both urban and rural; and one—Hereford—covers a rural area. The associated political constituencies are as follows:
The Government have ensured that a place is available from September 1998 for every four year old whose parents want one. In addition, the Government have set a target to double the national participation rate of three year olds in free early education places to 66 per cent. by 2002.