HC Deb 25 January 1996 vol 270 cc337-8W
Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if providers of early learning education associated with(a) supermarkets, (b) franchised retail suppliers of early learning materials and (c) companies providing early-years schools in several locations will, under the proposed legislation, be permitted to operate within the voucher scheme on similar conditions as local education authorities or other providers. [11896]

Mr. Robin Squire

To join the voucher scheme, all private and voluntary providers must either be registered under the Children Act 1989 or finally registered as an independent school, and must undertake to meet the quality criteria and inspection arrangements as set out in "Nursery Education Scheme: The Next Steps."

Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many provider institutions have expressed interest in participating in phase one of the nursery voucher scheme in(a) Wandsworth, (b) Westminster, (c) Kensington and Chelsea and (d) Norfolk. [11482]

Mr. Squire

In the three London boroughs, all eligible maintained schools have applied to join the scheme through their local education authority and around 50 private and voluntary providers have applied so far. In Norfolk 154 are maintained schools and 178 private and voluntary providers have so far applied to join the scheme.

Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 15 January,Official Report, column 472–73, (1) what estimates she has made of the cost of employing (a) 200 registered nursery education inspectors in phase one and (b) 4,000 registered nursery education inspectors in phase two of the voucher scheme; [11480]

(2) what estimate she has made of the cost of carrying out (a) 600 inspections of voucher-redeeming institutions in phase one and (b) 12,000 inspections of voucher-redeeming institutions in phase two of the voucher scheme. [11481]

Mr. Squire

The costs of inspection and administration together are estimated to be £5 millions for phase 1 and £20 million for phase 2. My Department is in discussions with Ofsted about the likely cost of employing sufficient inspectors and carrying out inspections in both phases of the voucher scheme.

Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what procedures will he established to ensure the prevention of fraud in the nursery voucher system. [11478]

Mr. Squire

We have worked closely with the voucher agency to set up a system which will deter and detect fraud. Vouchers will incorporate a number of security features to prevent counterfeiting and will he issued only to parents whose children are on the child benefit centre database or who provide full documentation.