§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much his Department spends on child care provision for the under-fives and out-of-school provision for children aged over five either directly, excluding provision for departmental staff, or indirectly through resources made available to local authorities or other organisations; what form of provision is thereby provided; how many places are thereby provided; and if he will make a statement on child care.
§ Miss Widdecombe[holding answer 14 March 1994]: We have committed £45 million to the out-of-school child care grant initiative, with the aim of creating up to 50,000 699W new after-school and holiday places for the over-fives throughout Great Britain. Training and enterprise councils and local enterprise companies also have the flexibility to use their budgets to provide child care assistance for trainees.
In addition, over 90 per cent. of three to four-year-olds attend either education or group day care. It is not, however, possible to say what proportion of these places will have benefited from Government support—for example, through TECs and LECs.