§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of local authority nursery school places provided by each of the education authorities, expressed as a percentage of the eligible children in each area.
§ Mr. Michael Forsyth[holding answer 26 April 1991]: The table gives, for each education authority, the number of three and four-year-old children attending education authority nursery schools at September 1990 as a percentage of the 1990 mid-year estimate of the total three and four-year-old population, the range which is the relevant age group for nursery education.
Figures for numbers of pupils attending nursery schools have been used because there are no reliable figures for the number of places and because many children attend nursery school part-time.
85W
Number of three and four year olds in education authority nursery schools with percentages in relation to the three and four year old population, September 1990 Education authority Three and four year olds in nursery schools September 1990 Percentage of three and four year olds in nursery schools Borders 470 19.5 Central 2,732 41.4 Dumfries/Galloway 630 17.8 Fife 4,388 47.6 Grampian 3,391 26.1 Highland 730 13.6 Lothian 8,457 45.9
Education authority Three and four year olds in nursery schools September 1990 Percentage of three and four year olds in nursery schools Strathclyde 18,911 30.9 Tayside 3,326 34.27 Orkney 102 20.4 Shetland 137 20.5 Western Isles — — Scotland 43,274 33.0