§ Mr. TyrieTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pre-school groups there were in(a) West Sussex and (b) the Chichester parliamentary constituency in 1997; and how many there are at present. [158594]
§ Ms HodgeData on pre-school groups are not available at constituency level. In March 1997 there were 353 registered pre-school groups in the West Sussex area and in March 2000 then were 309. In the light of changing patterns of demand, many pre-school groups are diversifying and expanding their provision into daycare and nursery education
Over the same time period the number of registered day nurseries has increased from 79 to 90, the number of registered holiday schemes from 66 to 213 and the number of registered out of school clubs from 31 to 66. Free nursery education places for three and four-year-olds have increased from 8,245 in 1997 to 9,501 in 2001.
£300 million is being made available nationally between April 2001 and March 2004 for the creation of new Neighbourhood Nursery centres in disadvantaged areas and many pre-schools may want to take advantage of this. We are making £986 million available over the years 2001–02 to 2003–04 for the provision of free nursery education places for three-year-olds, and other early years initiatives. Playgroups, along with other early education providers will benefit from this expansion. In addition, £6 million in capital between 2002–04 and 221W £4 million in revenue this year is also being made available specifically to help playgroups and maintained schools expand into childcare.
We have also made available a total of £1.75 million in the three-year period 1998–2000 for special grants to voluntary pre-schools and playgroups facing short-term financial difficulties, to give them breathing space to consider their longer term plans. To date over 2,000 pre-schools and playgroups have received grants.