§ Lord Northbourneasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the daily cost of providing high quality institutional child care for a nine-hour day for a child in its first, second, third, fourth and fifth years respectively. [HL645]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Health (Baroness Jay of Paddington)There are no centrally collected statistics in the form requested on the cost of providing institutional child care for young children. This is due in part to the huge diversity in the types of provision available. The gross cost per child per annum (excluding capital charges) of day care, mainly for children in need, provided by social services departments in England in 1995–96, as estimated by the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy, was £6,293. Families in receipt of Income Support or Family Credit would not be charged for this service. It has also been estimated by the Daycare Trust that in 1997 the typical childcare costs for parents for a full time place for a child under 5 at a private day nursery were between £70 and £180 per week.