§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what letters she sent to selected hon. Members concerning the priority to be accorded to the Government's policy of expanding nursery education; what was the purpose of these letters; and what assessments she has made of the consequences from any request made therein;
(2) what advice she has sent by letter to members of local education authorities concerning their priorities in educational expenditure for the year 1995–96; and what priority Her Majesty's Government now give to the expansion of nursery education.
§ Mr. ForthMy right hon. Friend has not written to hon. Members or to local education authorities about the Government's policies for nursery education. She has however, written to her hon. Friends about local authority spending priorities in 1995–96. The letter invited Members to examine the priorities set by individual LEAs, in particular those which complain of pressures on budgets for the compulsory period of education. This must be their first priority, though in general there is no reason772W why councils should be cutting discretionary nursery education. The Government remain committed to providing, over time, a pre-school place for all four-year-olds whose parents wish to take it up, making a start within the lifetime of this Parliament.
§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list those proposals for nursery classes in maintained or grant-maintained schools of which her Department has been informed since September 1991, showing in each case(a) whether they are for determination by her and (b) whether the proposals have been determined, approved and funded by her Department or implemented.
§ Sir Irvine PatnickTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list for the core cities of Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds the percentage of under-fives in maintained nursery and primary schools; if she will list the equivalent figure for 1978; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. Robin SquireInformation on pupils under five being taught in maintained nursery schools and primary schools in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield local education authority areas is shown in the table.
Percentage of children under 5' in maintained nursery and primary schools in 1978 and 1994. Position in January each year Local education authority 1978 1994 Birmingham 38 66 Leeds 20 75 Liverpool 33 87 Manchester 37 73 Newcastle 61 72 Sheffield 26 63 1 Numbers of pupils under five years of age expressed as a percentage of the estimated population aged three and four at 31 December in the previous year.