§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what funding is paid by his Department in the current financial year to the London Borough of Wandsworth for the development of nursery school provision. [145428]
§ Ms HodgeWe are making £2.82 million available to Wandsworth in 2000–01, through specific nursery education grant, for the provision of free early education places for three-year-olds. In 2001–02, Wandsworth will be allocated £2,050,488 for the creation of 1,726 three-year-old places, as a result of which all three-year-olds in Wandsworth will be able to access a free place if their parents want one.
The Government have also made £67,945 nursery capital funding available to the local education authority from the New Deal for Schools to improve and expand early years services, together with £38,916 to maintained nursery schools to enable them to extend the services they offer.
There is £9.532 million in the under-5s Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) sub-block that is available to support spending by Wandsworth on nursery provision in 2000–01. Nationally, £122 million has been transferred to SSA for 2001–02 to cover payments for early education places for four-year-olds currently made to local 416W education authorities through Nursery Education Grant. In 2001–02, £10.709 million will be available to Wandsworth in the under-5s sub-block to support spending on nursery provision, including provision of early education places for four-year-olds.
The funding we are making available to Wandsworth is part of our overall commitment to the early years which includes, for the first time, provision of free early education places for three-year-olds across all sectors. All three-year-olds in England will be able to access a free early education place by September 2004.