§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospitals provide on-site nurseries; and what estimate his Department has made of the number of NHS hospitals that intend to provide on-site nurseries by(a) 31 December 2002 (b) 31 December 2003 and (c) 31 December 2004. [68285]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 10 July 2002]A national survey of national health service child care provision, undertaken early in 2001, found that 114 NHS trusts provided nursery facilities for their staff. Since April 2001, a further 94 schemes have had capital funding agreed as part of the NHS child care strategy, which is aiming to develop 150 new on-site nursery schemes 537W by April 2004. In 2002–03 we expect at least 50 new nurseries, or extensions of existing nurseries to be opened providing an additional 2,500 places.