§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what research his Department has done on the correlation between levels of day nursery provision and the numbers of children in care.
Mrs. CunrieThe Department has not commissioned any research specifically on this issue. However, some research studies have addressed it in passing. For example, a study of local authority day nurseries in England in the period 1975–83 showed that children of families in contact with social services departments were accorded priority for admission to day nurseries.