§ Mr. Damian GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of early years settings employ a qualified teacher; and what the cost would be of placing a qualified teacher in every early years setting. [14579]
§ Mr. Timms[holding answer 13 November 2001]: Approximately 35,000 early years settings are registered to deliver Government funded nursery education. Of these, around 50 per cent. are local education authority maintained primary schools and nursery schools, all of which directly employ qualified teachers.
We have asked local early years development and child care partnerships (EYDCPs), in association with their local education authorities, to ensure that a ratio of one teacher with qualified teacher status to every 10 early education settings in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector is achieved by 2004.
The approximate cost of placing a qualified teacher in every PVI sector setting would be £435 million per annum. We have no present plans to do this.