HC Deb 01 February 1989 vol 146 cc219-20W
Ms. Richardson

To ask the Attorney-General what child care provision the Attorney-General's and Lord Chancellor's Department provides for pre-school age

Table 1
Numbers of school leavers attempting A-level examinations
Thousands
Regions German French Spanish
1985 1986 1987 1985 1986 1987 1985 1986 1987
North 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.9 0.7 0.9 nil 1— 1—
Yorkshire and Humberside 0.7 0.7 0.6 1.6 1.7 1.8 0.2 0.2 0.2
North West 0.8 0.7 0.8 2.6 2.3 2.2 0.4 0.4 0.3
East Midlands 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.3 1.2 1.4 0.1 0.1 0.1
West Midlands 0.7 0.6 0.6 1.9 1.8 1.2 0.2 0.3 0.2
East Anglia 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.1 1—
Greater London 0.7 0.8 0.7 2.6 2.2 2.0 0.3 0.4 0.3
Other South East 1.9 1.8 1.9 5.2 4.7 4.8 0.5 0.8 0.5
South West 0.8 0.6 0.5 2.1 1.7 1.6 0.2 0.1 0.2
England2 6.8 6.3 6.3 18.8 16.8 16.4 2.0 2.2 1.8
1 The numbers of pupils fall below 100.
2 Figures for England may not match the sum of those for the constituent regions owing to rounding.

Table 2
Numbers of school leavers obtaining an A-level pass expressed as a percentage of those who attempted the examination
Percentages
Regions German French Spanish
1985 1986 1987 1985 1986 1987 1985 1986 1987
North 76.9 72.5 82.1 79.9 77.3 82.5 nil 73.3 52.8
Yorkshire and Humberside 90.3 93.7 81.0 74.6 73.3 75.7 80.1 81.1 76.3
North West 74.7 84.5 77.4 73.7 73.1 79.3 70.7 84.8 96.8
East Midlands 95.3 80.5 90.4 79.1 78.0 78.0 92.5 84.0 89.4
West Midlands 91.4 87.5 82.1 77.7 77.2 70.0 80.6 87.8 84.9
East Anglia 85.7 89.8 82.5 80.0 88.1 88.1 100.0 100.0 100.0
Greater London 88.9 90.1 87.3 83.1 84.8 87.7 83.9 88.2 92.3
Other South East 88.3 92.4 88.2 84.4 80.5 85.3 82.5 85.6 91.5
South West 87.7 82.9 92.2 87.3 78.1 87.4 88.1 100.0 94.5
England 86.7 87.8 85.3 80.8 78.7 82.2 81.7 86.7 90.0

Ms. Quin

To ask the secretary of State for Education and Science how many students have taken English, physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology and computer children of the Department's employees; what child care provision for school holidays or after school care is provided for employee's children aged five years and over; and what plans there are for increasing provision in the next five years.

The Attorney-General

A pilot scheme for children of school age will run from 13 to 17 February 1989 and 28 March to 7 April 1989 in London. Together with other Whitehall Departments, staff in my Departments and the Lord Chancellor's Department have been circulated with an invitation to place their children with the scheme.

My Departments and the Lord Chancellor's Department are considering proposals to provide nursery facilities for children of pre-school age. It is likely that some nursery facilities will be in operation within the next two years.