§ 21. Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to improve the quality and quantity of child care places. [29900]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthWe have already developed plans to spend the first tranches of the £300 million childcare package announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 25 November, 1997,Official Report, column 777. In 1998–99, for England, the £25 million receipts from the Windfall Tax will help support the expansion of childcare provision and the development of infrastructure and capacity to deliver quality provision in preparation for the huge expansion of out of school childcare when lottery funding comes on stream in 1999. We have made £50 million available to the Out of School Childcare Initiative over the next five years; in 1998–99 this will create 20,000 new places. We plan to launch a consultation document in the spring and the final national childcare strategy later in the year.