HC Deb 20 February 1995 vol 255 cc43-4W
Ms Hodge

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is her Department's latest estimate of the number of children under the age of five years who are educated privately in the United Kingdom, and what information she has on the current average cost of such education for a half-day session.

Mr. Forth

In 1992–93, there were over 50,000 pupils aged under five in independent schools in the United Kingdom.

Percentage of children under five in maintained nursery schools and primary schools in each LEA in England1 January 1994
Nursery schools Primary schools
Nursery classes Infant classes
Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time
Camden 1.0 0.8 11.4 12.2 23.6 0.0
Greenwich 4.8 5.0 4.1 33.4 14.7 0.1
Hackney 1.0 1.7 12.4 22.7 13.7 0.0
Hammersmith and Fulham 7.3 8.1 12.6 15.7 14.2 0.3
Islington 3.2 3.7 20.3 11.9 29.2 0.3
Kensington and Chelsea 5.0 2.5 11.9 6.3 11.3 0.3
Lambeth 2.7 3.7 7.9 19.7 14.2 0.6
Lewisham 1.4 1.9 5.2 28.5 14.4 1.1
Southwark 2.8 4.9 8.8 26.6 29.5 0.0
Tower Hamlets 7.4 4.8 22.8 18.0 30.7 0.0
Wandsworth 1.7 1.6 12.6 20.2 26.4 —4
Westminster 1.4 3.6 10.9 14.9 12.7 0.3
Barking and Dagenham 0.0 0.0 0.4 40.1 33.3 0.0
Barnet 0.2 6.4 0.1 24.6 25.2 1.0
Bexley 0.0 0.0 0.0 22.5 17.3 0.2
Brent 2.6 0.6 9.8 25.1 30.1 0.0
Bromley 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.2 31.0 —[...]
Croydon 0.0 4.9 —4 11.5 30.1 0.1
Ealing 0.2 5.2 0.1 39.2 28.5 0.1
Enfield 0.0 0.0 0.0 22.7 30.7 0.3
Haringey 2.9 1.2 7.8 34.3 29.6 0.0
Harrow 0.0 0.0 0.0 19.2 30.6 —4

Information on the average cost per session of such education is not available. Figures published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in "Day care services for Children", copies of which are in the Library, indicate that in 1990 the average termly cost to parents in England of sending a child aged under five to independent infant or primary school full-time was £650.

Ms Hodge

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is her estimate of the total level of expenditure on private education for children under the age of five years in the United Kingdom, and what this amount is per head of children under the age of five years who are privately educated.

Mr. Forth

An estimate is not available. Information on expenditure on private education is not collected.