§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the number and the proportion of eligible parents who have(a) received a voucher application form and (b) returned a voucher application from, in respect of provision for their four-year-old in the summer term 1997. [15958]
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe parents/carers of 653,746 eligible children have been sent an application form. Of those, as of 12 February 1997, a total of 511,780—more than 78 per cent.—had returned their forms to the nursery voucher centre.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received from providers in the four areas piloting the nursery voucher scheme, regarding the impact of the voucher scheme on provision for three-year-olds. [15960]
§ Mr. SquireMy right hon. Friend has received representations on a number of aspects of the nursery voucher scheme, including the desirability of extending the scheme to three-year-olds. As the deduction from each local education authority's standard spending assessment is only in respect of existing places for four-year-olds, it should not impact on the provision for three-year-olds.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many places for voucher-bearing four-year-olds were provided in(a) the maintained sector, (b) the voluntary sector, (c) the private sector and (d) overall in (i) the first term and (ii) the second term of the nursery voucher pilot scheme. [15955]
§ Mr. SquireThe table provides a breakdown of the number of places provided under the voucher scheme by type of provider for each of the phase 1 local education authority areas in the summer and autumn terms of 1996.
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Number of places provided in the summer and autumn terms Norfolk Kensington and Chelsea Wandsworth Westminster Total Summer term Private and voluntary sectors 3,656 248 448 168 4,520 Independent schools 222 148 197 92 659 Grant-maintained schools 158 40 71 0 269 Local authority day nurseries 0 40 35 49 124 Special schools 21 0 4 0 25 LEA-maintained schools 4,274 600 2,043 832 7,749 Total 8,331 1,076 2,798 1,141 13,346 Autumn term Private and voluntary sectors 773 123 127 120 1,143 Independent schools 206 269 347 113 935 Grant-maintained schools 344 45 232 0 621 Local authority day nurseries 0 23 6 29 58 Special schools 18 0 8 0 26 LEA-maintained schools 7,548 621 2,040 886 11,095 Total 8,889 1,081 2,760 1,148 13,878
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when parents of four-year-olds will receive a nursery voucher in respect of provision in the summer term 1997. [15957]
§ Mr. SquireThe first tranche of nursery education vouchers will arrive with parents from 24 February 1997. Thereafter vouchers will be issued to parents on receipt of a correctly completed application form.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will publish the chief inspector's report on the findings of the inspections carried out up to the end of November, in the pilot phase of the nursery voucher scheme. [15959]
§ Mr. SquireMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has published today the chief inspector's overview report on the findings of inspections carried out in the local authority areas participating in phase 1 of the nursery education voucher scheme.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is her current estimate of the number and percentage of parents in the four areas piloting the nursery voucher scheme who have seen or heard advertising for the scheme. [15953]
§ Mr. SquireResearch undertaken in March 1996 among a sample of the 16,000 eligible parents in the four phase 1 participating authorities showed that, overall,
460W
Voucher redemption in summer and autumn terms Norfolk Kensington and Chelsea Wandsworth Westminster Summer term 1996 Estimated children 9,300 1,650 3,300 1,900 Vouchers issued 8,914 1,140 3,123 1,395 Vouchers redeemed (full or part) 8,331 1,076 2,798 1,141 Nominal value of unredeemed voucher parts £526,251 £28,859 £141,913 £107,589 Autumn term 1996 Estimated children 9,300 1,650 3,300 1,900 Vouchers issued 9,128 1,142 3,147 1,469 Vouchers redeemed (full or part) 8,889 1,081 2,760 1,148 Nominal value of unredeemed vouchers parts £177,960 £35,570 £174,403 £142,463 some 38 per cent. claimed to have seen or heard some advertising for the nursery education voucher scheme. The figure rose to 48 per cent. in Norfolk. Given that publicity had to be contained within the participating authorities, this is a very respectable figure.
No subsequent research of this nature has been undertaken, but it seems reasonable to conclude that with the advent of national advertising for phase 2 a greater proportion of parents in the four phase 1 areas are now aware of the scheme.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many vouchers have been(a) issued and (b) redeemed in respect of (i) term one and (ii) term two of the nursery voucher scheme; and what is the cash value of unredeemed vouchers; [15954]
(2) in respect of each of the four nursery voucher pilot areas (a) what is the number of eligible four-year-olds, (b) how many applied for a voucher and (c) how many redeemed a voucher in (i) the first term and (ii) the second term, of the pilot phase. [15956]
§ Mr. SquireThe following table provides a breakdown of the estimated number of children eligible for a voucher, and the number of vouchers issued and redeemed for each of the phase 1 local education authority areas in the summer and autumn terms 1996. Unredeemed vouchers do not have a cash value; they represent the potential grant that would have been paid had they been redeemed.