§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the proportion of families in Scotland which have state nursery education available to them in each education authority for children aged(a) three to four and (b) four to five years. [11089]
§ Mr. Raymond S. RobertsonWe do not hold information on the basis of families. The table shows the number of children at education authority nursery schools at September 1994 expressed as a percentage of the General Register Office's mid-1994 population estimates for three and four-year-olds.
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Percentage of children attending education authority nursery schools at September 1994 Education authority Percentage of pupils aged 3 Percentage of pupils aged 4 Scotland 19.8 55.9 Borders 2.4 36.0 Central 19.5 71.8 Dumfries and Galloway 10.1 74.4 Fife 16.8 83.4 Grampian 10.1 64.5 Highland 4.6 29.6 Lothian 27.4 75.4 Strathclyde 22.6 43.3 Tayside 23.0 63.4 Orkney 17.4 61.6 Shetland 20.4 51.2 Western Isles 0.0 0.0
Percentage of children attending education authority nursery schools at September 1994 Education authority Percentage of pupils aged 3 Percentage of pupils aged 4 Strathclyde divisions: Argyll and Bute 2.2 4.9 Ayr 15.0 38.8 Dunbarton 14.5 35.1 Glasgow 42.1 62.9 Lanark 13.5 31.1 Renfrew 16.8 42.3 Sources:
GRO(S) Mid year population estimates 1994 Annual School Census 1994.
§ Mr. ChisholmTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each regional authority in Scotland the number of nursery places provided, broken down by(a) part time and (b) full time, for (i) the year before statutory schooling and (ii) the period before that. [11549]
§ Mr. RobertsonThe latest available information in respect of education authority nursery schools and classes is given in the table.
Number of children attending education authority nursery schools and classes, September 1994 Aged 3 and under1 Aged 4 and over1 Full time Part time Full time Part time Scotland 530 12,919 2,444 33,867 Borders — 31 — 457 Central 1 735 21 2,410 Dumfries and Galloway 1 207 4 1,322 Fife 27 788 74 3,700 Grampian 15 683 240 4,210 Highland — 125 — 807 Lothian 116 2,596 740 6,202 Strathclyde 352 6,484 858 11,845 Tayside 18 1,142 507 2,542 Orkney — 61 — 189 Shetland — 67 — 183 Western Isles — — — — 1Age at 31 December 1994. Other pre-school care providers such as private nurseries, playgroups and day care centres may also provide education, but there will be no clear way of establishing this until the quality assurance arrangements planned under the Government's pre-school education vouchers initiative have been set up.
§ Mr. ChisholmTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much each regional authority in Scotland spends on nursery education. [11550]
§ Mr. KynochThe total gross revenue expenditure on nursery education in 1993–94—the last year for which figures are available—by each region and islands council was as shown in the table. The figures cover revenue expenditure directly related to nursery education, and do not include any apportionment of administration or miscellaneous services attributed to nursery education.
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Gross expenditure on nursery education 1993–94 Nursery education £000 Borders 61 Central 3,109 Dumfries and Galloway 936 Fife 4,238 Grampian 5,209 Highland 969 Lothian 11,305 Strathclyde 31,126 Tayside 4,697 Orkney 138 Shetland 409 Western Isles 0 Scotland total 62,197 Source:
Local Financial Returns (1993–94).
§ Mr. ChisholmTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current grant-aided expenditure for nursery education for each regional authority; and how the figures are calculated. [11551]
§ Mr. KynochThere is not a separate grant-aided expenditure assessment for the total cost of nursery education. There is, however, an assessment for the cost of nursery teaching staff. Its distribution for the current year is shown in the table.
Grant-aided expenditure (£) Borders 399 Central 1,082 Dumfries 585 Fife 1,479 Grampian 2,211 Highland 860 Lothian 3,017 Strathclyde 9,599 Tayside 1,545 Orkney 92 Shetland 108 Western Isles 127 Total 21,104 The total amount for this assessment is decided each year by the Secretary of State. It is apportioned between relevant authorities pro-rata to the population aged three and four in each authority, based on the most recent available mid-year population estimate provided by the General Register Office of Scotland.
§ Mr. ChisholmTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children in Scotland currently receive some form of nursery education in the year before statutory schooling, broken down by(a) the different types of provision and (b) region. [11559]
§ Mr. RobertsonThe latest available information in respect of education authority nursery schools and classes is given in the table.
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Number of children attending education authority nursery schools and classes Children age 4 and over1 Scotland 36, 311 Borders 457 Central 2,431 Dumfries and Galloway 1,326 Fife 3,774 Grampian 4,450 Highland 807 Lothian 6,942 Strathclyde 12,703 Tayside 3,049 Orkney 189 Shetland 183 Western Isles 0 1Age at 31 December 1994. Other pre-school care providers such as private nurseries, playgroups and day care centres may also provide education, but there will be no clear way of establishing this until the quality assurance arrangements planned under the Government's pre-school education vouchers initiative have been set up.
§ Mr. ChisholmTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the number of children whose parents are currently paying for nursery education in the year before statutory schooling. [11561]
§ Mr. RobertsonI have made no such estimate.
§ Mr. ChisholmTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what figures he has received from each regional authority for the cost of a part-time nursery education place in its area. [11556]
§ Mr. Robertson[holding answer 24 January 1996]: These costs are not collected routinely. Participation in the pilot will give authorities an impetus systematically to collect such data, which would be part of our overall review of the initial phase.