HC Deb 08 February 1996 vol 271 cc320-1W
Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 2 February,Official Report, column 983, concerning agreements entered into with non-statutory bodies or persons concerning her proposed extension to early years education, on what statutory authority she entered on 22 January into contract No. 0414/118/02 with Capita Managed Services Ltd. relating to the administration of phase 1 of a voucher scheme; how many responses were received to the published advertisements; and what is the value of the contract. [14284]

Mr. Robin Squire

The Secretary of State entered into the contract on behalf of the Crown in pursuance of the Crown's ordinary common law right to enter into contracts. This right does not depend on statute. One hundred and seventy companies expressed an interest in the contract. The contract was awarded by competitive tender. Its value is commercially confidential.

Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what budget has been allocated for phase 1 of the nursery voucher scheme in each of the four pilot authorities; and if she will give a breakdown of this budget with respect to(a) funding for new places, (b) publicity, (c) administration and (d) inspection. [14116]

Mr. Squire

The estimated cost of new places in the phase one authorities is shown in the table. The budget for publicity in phase one is £750,000. The estimated cost of inspection and administration in phase 1 is £5 million, much of this is expected to be accounted for by the preparations for inspection in phase 2.

Local authority Estimated cost of new places £
Wandsworth 770,000
Westminster 880,000
Kensington and Chelsea 935,000
Norfolk 3,300,000

Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of the proportion of providers participating in(a) phase 1 and (b) phase 2 of the voucher scheme, capable of meeting the premises' requirements set out in the Children Act 1989 and the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981. [14117]

Mr. Squire

It is the responsibility of local education authorities and the governors of grant-maintained schools to ensure that all school premises comply with the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981. They will also be responsible for ensuring compliance with the revised regulations that we expect to lay before the House later this month.

The Children Act 1989 does not prescribe premises standards for registration. Local authority social services departments have regard to the space standards guidance set out in local authority circular LAC(93)1 when registering institutions.