§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer to my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Moss) on 28 April 1999,Official Report, column 341, what assessment he has made of the Pre-school Learning Alliance's estimate of the number of closures of pre-school play groups and nursery schools; and what estimate he has made of the change in the total number of pre-schools over the past 12 months. [83234]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 4 May 1999]: Earlier this year, 150 Early Years Development local plans were approved to guarantee a free nursery place for all four-year-olds whose parents want one and for the first time will deliver good quality childcare places across the country. The Government have made available an additional £390 million over three years to provide an additional 190,000 places for three-year-olds, almost doubling the participation rate of those taking a free place to 66 per cent. by April 2002. In addition, we intend to provide 430,000 additional childcare places in the UK by 2003, at a cost of £470 million.
We are aware of the Pre-School Alliance's (PLA) claims about the number of registered playgroups. They do not fully accord with official figures from annual surveys but DfEE officials will be discussing the figures with the PLA to ensure their concerns are properly understood. The Under-Secretary with responsibility for employment and equal opportunities, my hon. Friend the Member for Barking (Ms Hodge) has made available a further £500,000, in addition to the £500,000 announced in May 1998, to support specifically pre-schools at risk of closing and to help sustain good quality pre-schools and playgroups. She also announced an independent review of our early education and child-care policies.