§ Mr. ReedTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance her Department has given to(a) local education authorities and (b) Early Years Development Partnerships on the distribution of funding for nursery places for three-year-olds on the basis of postcodes; and if she will make a statement. [18501]
§ Margaret HodgeThe responsibility for setting criteria for the distribution of nursery education places at a local level rests with the Local Education Authority in conjunction with the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership, within the strategic framework set by the Department requiring the most socially disadvantaged to be targeted first.
Our strategic framework does not prohibit Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships from allocating nursery education places for three-year-olds by postcode area if they believe that to be the most appropriate method of targeting social disadvantage for their area.
§ Mr. ReedTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of three-year-olds in Leicestershire will receive free nursery places in 2001–02; and what is the national average. [18503]
§ Margaret HodgeThe current national average for the take up of nursery education places for three-year-olds is 62 per cent. We are well on the way to meeting our stated target of 66 per cent. by March 2002.
The Department does not hold comprehensive local data on the percentage of three-year-olds receiving a free place in 2001–2002 for Leicestershire or other individual local authorities.