HC Deb 27 February 1990 vol 168 cc157-8W
20. Mr. George Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to meet representatives of those local education authorities that make little provision for nursery education.

44. Mrs. Mahon

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to meet representatives of those local education authorities that make little provision for nursery education.

Mrs. Rumbold

No. My right hon. Friend believes that local authorities themselves are best placed to determine the extent and form of provision for the under-fives in their area.

86. Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many nursery and under-five-year-old public education places have been created since 1979; and which are the local authorities which have reached the higher proportion of places created during such period.

Mrs. Rumbold

Information on the number of places available in England is not collected centrally. The number of children under five attending maintained nursery and primary schools increased by 119,000 between 1979 and 1989. The 10 local education authorities with the largest share of that increase are:

Number
Avon 7,254
Birmingham 6,113
Inner London 5,429
Derbyshire 4,845
Cheshire 4,673
Dorset 3,310
Leeds 3,155
Leicestershire 3,136
Lancashire 3,128
Northamptonshire 3,110

43. Mr. Morley

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any proposals to extend the provision of nursery education; and if he will make a statement.

82. Mr. Steinberg

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any proposals to extend the provision of nursery education; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold

The local authority grant settlement for 1990–91 allows for local authorities to spend almost £15 billion (£14,988 million) on education. This total allows for the continuance of the steady growth in the proportion of under-fives participating in education, as well as for the growth in the under-five population. The actual deployment of education funding will continue to be for authorities and schools to determine.