§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list for(a) the United Kingdom and (b) each local education authority, the number of three-year-olds with free early years education places providing five or more session of education per week in (i) 1979, (ii) 1990 and (iii) each year since 1992. [126845]
§ Ms Hodge[holding answer 21 June 2000]: The information is not available in the form requested. Up to September 1999, 'free' places for three-year-olds were only available in maintained nursery and primary schools funded by local education authorities from their own budgets. Since September 1999 specific funding by the Government for three-year-olds has been introduced and is available to both maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers via the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships. From summer 2000 this extra funding will be available in all local authority areas.
The available information on the numbers of three-year-olds in early-years provision for England and in each local education authority is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries. Table 1 gives the number of children in free early-years education places from 1996 to 2000. Table 2 shows the number of new funded places for three-year-olds being created in all sectors over the next year, including newly projected figures for summer 2000, autumn 2000 and spring 2001.
The new places this year are supported by £100 million of funding. Half of all three-year-olds will have access to a free place by spring 2001, and the Government are well on track to meet the 2002 target of expanding overall nursery provision to 66 per cent. of three-year-olds.
For information on three-year-olds with free early years places in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, I refer the hon. Member to the Ministers in the Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland Executives respectively.
§ Paddy AshdownTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of free places available in early years education for three-year-olds in each year from 1996–97 to 2000–01, in each county and local eduction authority; and if he will make a statement. [126583]
§ Ms HodgeThe information is not available in the form requested. Up to September 1999, 'free' places for three-year-olds were only available in maintained nursery and primary schools funded by local education authorities from their own budgets. Since September 1999 specific funding by the Government for three-year-olds has been introduced and is available to both maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers via the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships. From summer 2000 this extra funding will be available in all local authority areas.
The available information on the numbers of three-year-olds in early-years provision for England and in each local education authority is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries. Table 1 gives the number of children in free early-years education places from 1996 to 2000. Table 2 shows the number of new funded places for three-year-olds being created in all sectors over the next year, including newly projected figures for summer 2000, autumn 2000 and spring 2001.
284WThe new places this year are supported by £100 million of funding. Half of all three-year-olds will have access to a free place by spring 2001, and the Government are well on track to meet the 2002 target of expanding overall nursery provision to 66 per cent. of three-year-olds.