§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what resources have been allocated to Warrington local education authority for provision for under fives in each year since 1997. [149486]
§ Ms Hodge[holding answer 8 February 2001]: The table shows the amount of funding made available through the Nursery Education Grant, Childcare Grant, 299W European Social Fund and the 0–5 sub-block of the Education Standard Spending Assessment to Warrington LEA since April 1998.
£ 1998–99 5,918,135 1999–2000 15,579,655 2000–01 6,693,733 1 The drop in funding between 1998–99 and 1999–2000 is due to a fall in the amount of Nursery Education Grant that the authority was able to claim for new places created in local authority provision. This funding would have been compensated for by a relative increase in the funding available through Education Standard Spending in the following year As Warrington became a new unitary authority only from April 1998, it is not possible to provide data for the 1997–98 financial year.
From September 1998, all four-year-olds have been able to access a free, part-time, early education place. By April 2001, all three-year-olds in Warrington will also have access to a free early education place. Up to December 2000 Warrington Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership reported the creation of 1,327 new child care places.