§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many places in after-school and holiday clubs there were in successful New Opportunities Fund bids up to and including the October 1999 awards broken down by local authority; and what percentage of children aged five to 14 years in each area this represented. [97560]
§ Mr. Chris SmithI have been asked to reply.
In the period from 26 July 1999, when the first New Opportunities Fund out of school hours child care places were announced, to the end of October 1999, NOF announced grants totalling £7.3 million for the creation of 24,649 new child care places in 333 schemes spread across 183 local authority areas throughout the UK. I have asked the Chief Executive of the New Opportunities Fund to write directly to my right hon. Friend to provide further details of the precise breakdown of these places by local authority. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.