§ Ms KellyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much his Department has spent in each year since 1997 on the provision of playgroups; how many playgroups have been established; and how many children have used them. [122603]
§ Ms Hodge[holding answer 18 May 2000]The Department will provide £40 million of funding for three-year-old nursery education in the voluntary sector (pre-schools and playgroups) during the financial year 2000–01 and this is estimated to provide 33,000 places. This compares with estimated funding of £16 million during the financial year 1999–2000, or the provision of 17,000 places. Playgroups will also benefit from child care grants and the Working Families Tax credit.
In addition, we have announced funding of £500,000 for a further scheme to assist pre-schools and playgroups facing financial difficulties, to give them a further breathing space as policy initiatives work through to individual groups, and £250,000 for projects to help pre-schools and playgroups, develop, in partnership with others, as the early education and care places expand.
412WInformation on the number of new playgroups which have been established since 1997 is not collected. Annual information on playgroups and other Day Care facilities is published in the Statistical Volume "Children's Day Care Facilities (as at 31 March)" which is available from the Library. The Department plans to publish provisional national estimates about playgroups (as at 31 March 2000) in a Statistical First release in July.
Around £357 million of Nursery Education Grant has been made available to fund early years places for four-year-olds in the private, voluntary and independent sectors since 1997.
Furthermore, the Department has provided over £8 million to the Pre-School Learning Alliance (PLA) since 1997 to support its training infrastructure and to help improve the quality and marketing of groups. This includes a grant under Section 64 of the Health and Public Services Act 1968 towards PLA core funding.