§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest available figure in England and Wales for the number of two to five-year-olds in the population; what percentage of them have pre-school day nursery places provided by(a) local authorities and the public sector and (b) the private sector; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. BowisThe information available is shown in the table. Information is collected on the number of places in registered, private and voluntary, day nurseries but not the number of children attending.
Day nursery provision and population data: England Amount Number of children aged 2 and under 5 at 30 June 19911 1,926,000 Number of children provided with a day nursery place2 by a local authority at 31 March 1992 as a percentage of all children aged 2 and under 5 1.6 per cent. Number of places3 in registered day nurseries (private and voluntary) at 31 March 1992 as a percentage of all children aged 2 and under 5 4.8 per cent. Notes: 1 Estimated resident mid year population. 2 All children under 5 on the register of local authority provision or placed by local authorities in registered provision. 3 Includes places exempt from registration.