§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what additional resources he intends to provide for improving facilities for pre-school play groups.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe Department for Education is this year making available a grant of £887,000 to the national Pre-School Playgroups Association to improve the education content of playgroup provision by supporting a number of training posts. This compares with a grant of £649,500 in 1992–93. Financial support is also provided by the Department of Health and the Ministry of Defence. Grant to the association for 1994–95 is currently under consideration. Individual playgroups are self-financing and receive most of their income from fees charged to parents, grants from local authorities, and local fund-raising.