§ Mr. GoodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to establish an early excellence centre in the Wycombe constituency. [113006]
§ Maria Eagle[holding answer 13 May 2003]: We have recently designated our final tranche of Early Excellence Centre (EEC), which brings our total to 107 EECs operating in 80 local authority areas in England. We will riot be designating any further EECs. Instead, we will be aiming to establish a children's centre in every one of the 20 per cent. most disadvantaged wards, building where possible on existing services including Sure Start local programmes, Neighbourhood Nurseries and EECs. Buckinghamshire will receive a small amount of money to develop children's centre services to serve the Booker and Castlefield ward in Wycombe that falls within in the 20 per cent. most disadvantaged category.