§ Ms PrimaroloTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will give the number of nursery places in each of the last five years for(a) children under three years and (b) from three years to compulsory school age; and what are the equivalent figures for each EC country.
§ Mr. Robin SquireInformation on the number of nursery places is not collected centrally but the numbers of pupils in nursery schools and nursery classes in maintained primary schools in England in each of the last five years and for each age group are shown in the table.
441WComparable information on the numbers of nursery pupils in each EC country is not available.
Table 1 Pupils maintained nursery schools and nursery classes in maintained primary schools in England in January of each year (1988 to 1992) Pupils ages at previous 31 August Year Pupils aged 2 Pupils aged 3 and41 1988 27,310 257,232 1989 25,299 270,285 1990 26,508 280,466 1991 27,763 290,141 1992 27,225 302,510 1 Excludes pupils who became 5 years of age by 1 January—ie those of compulsory school age.