§ 55. Mr. Greenwayasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children under the age of five years were in local authority day-care facilities in the latest year for which figures are available and in each of the preceding 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John PattenThe available information is set out in the table. Local authorities determine the level and nature of the day-care facilities they provide in the light of their assessment of local needs and priorities. Government policy is that local authorities should continue to give priority in the allocation of available places to families with particular health and social needs
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Number of children on registers of facilities provided by local authorities Number of children placed and paid for by local authorities in non-local authority facilities Year ended March Day nurseries Part-time nursery groups or playgroups Total (1)+(2) Day nurseries Part-time nursery groups or playgroups Total (4)+(5) Child-minders Places available with local authority provided child-minders (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) 1973 25,019 3,954 28,973 1,745 3,448 5,193 826 — 1974 25,700 4,535 30,235 1,292 4,473 5,765 476 — 1975 26,098 2,885 28,983 1,182 4,317 5,499 724 — 1976 27,788 2,866 30,654 1,526 4,319 5,845 945 — 1977 28,919 2,473 31,392 1,600 4,772 6,372 1,210 — 1978 28,885 2,507 31,392 1,448 N/A — N/A N/A 1979 28,606 N/A — 1,653 N/A — N/A N/A 1980 29,928 2,455 32,383 1,860 4,624 6,484 N/A N/A 1981 31,091 2,518 33,609 1,906 4,508 6,414 N/A N/A 1982 32,410 2,500 34,910 1,552 5,182 6,734 1,908 5,003