§ Ms. RichardsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total public expenditure on local authority day nurseries, local authority playgroups and grants to the voluntary sector for provision for under-fives for each year from 1975–76; and what was the total public expenditure on these services as a percentage of gross domestic product for each of these years.
§ Mr. FreemanTotal local authority social service departments' net current expenditure on day nurseries and playgroups plus Departmental grants to the voluntary sector for provision for the under fives for the years 1975–76 to 1987–88 are set out in cash terms. This includes expenditure on day nurseries and playgroups supported by, but not directly run by, the authorities. Final expenditure data for local authorities in 1988–89 is not yet available:
430W
Net current expenditure £ thousand Year Local authority day nurseries Local authority playgroups Grants to voluntary sector Total 1975–76 24,352 1,909 147 26,408 1976–77 30,136 2,389 230 32,755 1977–78 33,495 2,663 268 36,426 1978–79 37,654 2,965 359 40,978 1979–80 44,153 3,888 374 48,415 1980–81 58,099 4,543 478 63,120 1981–82 66,227 5,378 564 72,169 1982–83 73,084 5,789 671 79,544 1983–84 79,449 5,947 1,397 86,793
Year Local authority day nurseries Local authority playgroups Grants to voluntary sector Total 1984–85 84,743 6,299 2,763 93,805 1985–86 86,094 6,841 2,739 95,674 1986–87 97,751 8,974 2,802 109,527 1987–88 104,934 10,913 1,814 117,661 The voluntary sector expenditure quoted relates to grants made by the Department to voluntary organisations for provision for children under five. It does not include any grants made by health authorities or local authorities for which no information is available centrally. Expenditure in the period 1984–85 to 1986–87 includes grants totalling over £5.5 million paid under the Department's first under-fives initiative.
The total figures quoted represent the following percentages of the gross domestic product for each of the years in question:
Year Percentage of GDP 1975–76 0.024 1976–77 0.025 1977–78 0.024 1978–79 0.024 1979–80 0.023 1980–81 0.027 1981–82 0.028 1982–83 0.028 1983–84 0.028 1984–85 0.028 1985–86 0.026 1986–87 0.028 1987–88 0.027