§ Mr. Shoreasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many nursery school places have been authorised and how many have been provided under the Urban Programme and the Educational Priority Area Programme, respectively, in each year since 1967.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeFull-time nursery places in England approved under the Urban Programme are as follows:
Phase 1 … … … 5,040 Phase 2 … … … 5,026 Phase 3 … … … 5,279 Phase 5 … … … 2,535 Phases 1 and 2 relate to projects expected to start in the period 1968–70. 155W Phases 3 and 5 provide for building starts up to 31st March, 1973.
The special addition to the school building programmes for 1968–69 and 1969–70 in educational priority areas was devoted mainly to the replacement of old primary schools for children of compulsory school age. A few projects included nursery classes, but the total of about 850 nursery places included the replacement of existing provision for nursery education.
The number of full-time places for children under five (excluding the rising fives) in maintained schools in England rose from 78,000 in January, 1967, to 117,000 in January, 1971. Although this increase is partly due to additional places approved under the Urban Programme, the majority of these places had not been taken into use by January, 1971.