§ Mr. HeppellTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards the initiative of the CBI in trying to increase workplace nursery places.
§ Miss WiddecombeWe welcome the Employers for Childcare forum, which proposes a national child care strategy based on partnership between parents, employers and Government. The forum clearly has a valuable contribution to make to the child care debate and we are pleased that major and prestigious companies have recognised child care as an important business issue. The Government is putting £45 million into an initiative to create some 50,000 new child care places for school aged children over the next three years. Employers will have a key role to play in this initiative. We also encourage all employers to adopt family-friendly employment policies such as flexible working and help with child care. In 1990 we introduced tax relief on workplace nurseries to stimulate this type of child care.