Play Groups

HC Deb 16 February 1979 vol 962 cc679-81W

Mr. Hardy

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what proportion of children below statutory school age is currently attending play groups; and how this compares with the position five years ago;

(2) what is the total number of the number per 1,000 population of children, below statutory school age who are attending play groups in each local authority area in England and Wales.

Mr. Deakins

Statistics on numbers of children attending play groups are not available centrally but, on 31 March 1977 the latest date for which figures are available, there were 366,000 places in premises in England registered to provide sessional care, most of which are used for play-groups. This represents 119.6 places for 1,000 children under five. Five years earlier, the comparative figures were 263,000 and 82.2.

The figures for individual local authorities on 31 March were:

Local Authority		Maximum number of children permitted	Rate per 1,000 population under 5
Bedfordshire	…	4,995	133 .2
Berkshire	…	6,285	133 .2
Buckinghamshire	…	6,455	170 .8
Cambridgeshire	…	4,772	116 .7
Essex	…	15,167	151 .1
Hertfordshire	…	7,822	128 .4
Norfolk	…	6,027	136 .1
Oxfordshire	…	5,394	152 .4
Suffolk	…	5,546	135.3
Camden	…	969	125.8
Greenwich	…	1,331	104.0
Hackney	…	836	68.5
Hammersmith	…	555	56.1
Islington	…	1,156	118.0
Kensington	…	1,007	154.9
Lambeth	…	1,867	102.0
Lewisham	…	1,451	104.4
Southwark	…	1,255	103.7
Tower Hamlets	…	605	74.7
Wandsworth	…	1,858	106.8
Westminster	…	1,066	134.9
City of London	…	18	60.0
Barking	…	1,044	104.4
Barnet	…	2,399	128.3
Bexley	…	2,459	176.9
Brent	…	1,539	95.0
Bromley	…	4,290	242.4
Croydon	…	3,187	149.6
Ealing	…	1,700	86.3
Enfield	…	2,158	138.3
Haringey	…	697	46.2
Harrow	…	2,041	165.9
Havering	…	2,066	135.0
Hillingdon*	…	1,869	120.6
Hounslow	…	1,161	95.2
Kingston upon Thames	…	799	99.9
Merton	…	958	101.9
Newham	…	1,101	66.3
Redbridge	…	3,157	237.4
Richmond upon Thames	…	1,793	199.2
Sutton	…	1,521	153.6
Waltham Forest	…	1,800	120.8
Cleveland	…	3,841	91.0
Cumbria	…	4,112	136.2
Durham	…	3,753	92.9
Northumberland	…	1,830	101.7
Gateshead	…	1,450	100.0
Newcastle upon Tyne	…	1,867	107.3
North Tyneside	…	926	73.5
South Tyneside	…	559	55.4

Local Authority		Maximum number of children permitted	Rate per 1,000 population under 5
Sunderland	…	1,690	79.3
Humberside	…	5,667	95.4
North Yorkshire	…	5,743	140.1
Barnsley	…	1,234	79.6
Doncaster	…	1,234	60.5
Rotherham	…	1,296	68.9
Sheffield	…	3,508	104.1
Bradford	…	2,292	71.0
Calderdale	…	1,392	106.3
Kirklees	…	2,432	91.8
Leeds	…	5,141	106.4
Wakefield	…	1,498	69.0
Hereford and Worcester	…	5,860	141.2
Salop	…	3,461	132.6
Staffordshire	…	7,311	105.8
Warwickshire	…	4,738	140.2
Birmingham	…	6,452	95.0
Coventry	…	2,355	98.1
Dudley	…	1,578	74.4
Sandwell	…	1,230	59.1
Solihull	…	1,442	100.1
Walsall	…	1,008	50.2
Wolverhampton	…	1,570	82.6
Derbyshire	…	5,974	103.9
Leicestershire	…	7,243	126.4
Lincolnshire	…	4,811	136.7
Northamptonshire	…	5,273	137.3
Nottinghamshire	…	6,636	99.9
Cheshire	…	6,279	97.1
Lancashire	…	7,490	85.0
Bolton	…	1,477	78.6
Bury	…	1,331	100.8
Manchester	…	1,622	55.9
Oldham	…	1,442	87.9
Rochdale	…	1,053	67.5
Salford	…	1,066	63.1
Stockport	…	2,453	123.3
Tameside	…	907	58.9
Trafford*	…	511	33.0
Wigan	…	1,481	63.0
Knowsley	…	712	49.1
Liverpool	…	2,589	81.4
Sefton	…	1,765	87.8
St. Helens	…	1,530	102.7
Wirral	…	2,343	101.9
Dorset	…	5,408	168.0
Hampshire	…	18,516	186.3
Isle of Wight	…	974	157.1
Kent*	…	15,205	146.1
Surrey	…	10,667	173.7
East Sussex	…	5,082	151.7
West Sussex	…	6,444	176.6
Wiltshire	…	4,934	130.2
Avon	…	8,179	139.6
Cornwall	…	4,206	163.0
Devon	…	8,927	157.7
Gloucestershire	…	5,210	159.3
Somerset	…	3,945	154.7
* March 1976 figures are shown where March 1977 figures are unconfirmed.