§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many (a) 3-year-olds and (b) 4-year-olds are now receiving (i) full-time or (ii) part-time nursery education in (a) nursery schools or (b) nursery classes attached to primary schools maintained by each local education authority in England and Wales; and what proportion of the total number of 3 and 4-year-old children these represent in each area.
§ Dr. BoysonThe information requested will take time to compile and I shall publish the details in theOfficial Report as soon as they are available.
§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether it is still his policy, as stated in his Department's circular 2/73, that nursery schools already in existence or at an advanced stage of planning should continue.
§ Dr. BoysonIn its original context, the statement quoted by the hon. Member was followed by the recommendation that, for educational and economic reasons, most additional nursery places should in the future be provided in units attached to primary schools rather than in separate nursery schools. That has in fact been the trend in provision, but local education authorities remain free to provide and maintain nursery schools if they wish to do so.
§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether it is his Department's policy that nursery classes should be available only to children living within the catchment area of the primary school to which they are attached; and to what extent advice has been given by his Department on the criteria to be used for the selection of children for nursery education.
§ Dr. BoysonIt is a matter for the local education authority concerned to decide upon the criteria for admission to any particular nursery class in the light of local circumstances. The Department has for some years recommended that in allocating limited resources, authorities should take account of the special benefits to be derived from nursery education by children subject to social and educatioal disadvantages including those in the ethnic minority groups, and by handicapped children.
§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he has given to local education authorities about the structure and provision of nursery education.
§ Dr. BoysonThe Department has issued a broadsheet giving advice to local education authorities on the cheap conversion of surplus primary accommodation for nursery278W use. Local authorities have been reminded in connection with building programmes of the advantages of making nursery provision in this way. They have also been urged to give priority in the provision of nursery education to projects providing for pupils who are socially and educationally disadvantaged and for handicapped pupils.
Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of 3 and 4-year-old children are currently in nursery schools; and what were the corresponding figures for 1978, 1979 and 1980 in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the Greater Manchester county.
§ Dr. BoysonThe information requested for England and the Greater Manchester County for the years 1978, 1979 and 1980 is as follows. The information for 1981 is not yet available. Statistical information for schools in the other three countries comprising the United Kingdom is the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Pupils Under Five Years in Maintained Nursery Schools and Nursery Classes in Maintained Primary Schools Expressed as a Percentage of the Estimated Population Aged 3 and 4 Years January England Greater Manchester Metropolitan county Per cent. Per cent. 1978 17 23 1979 18 25 1980 20 27