§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the eligibility for additional funding of nurseries and playgroups designed to enable them to extend their hours and service: 4, announced by the Prime Minister on 26 March. [157712]
§ Ms HodgeMy right hon. Friend the Prime Minister specifically announced that an extra £15 million over three years is being made available for maintained nursery schools to extend the services they offer to include out of hours child care facilities, services for a wider age range of children, and family services. This will help around 45,000 children and their families.
My right hon. Friend also announced that £4 million over 12 months will be made available to provide support for playgroups and other early years or child care providers in England intending to expand their services from the traditional two and a half hours early education and/or care session to provide a longer day care facility. This will help around 15,000 children and their families by creating more child care places and providing greater choice, flexibility and quality child care facilities.
Through the Neighbourhood Nursery initiative, Early Excellence Centre, Sure Start and other programmes we will create, and encourage others to create, by 2004, up to 100,000 new full-time integrated nursery education and child care places. These initiatives are available to a range of providers, including nurseries and playgroups.
431WBy March 2004 we plan to have spent over £1 billion on child care initiatives, as well as helping lower income working parents to pay for child care through the Working Families Tax Credit, and these resources will contribute to the extension of services for children, including nurseries and playgroups extending their hours.