§ Harry CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will indicate the proposals in the national child care strategy which will most benefit Londoners. [55936]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 22 May 2002]: The Government aims, over time, to ensure affordable, accessible, good quality child care in every neighbourhood, and to ensure a good quality free early education place for every three and four year old. Londoners are benefiting from the range of measures within the national child care strategy. For example: between 1997 and 2001, 122,000 new child care places have been created in London; in financial year 2002–03 we will pay some £16.7 million in child care grant to London local education authorities to support further development of new child care places; and we are targeting disadvantaged areas in London for 9,060 new neighbourhood nurseries places over the three years to March 2004, with total revenue support of some £39.9 million and capital support of some £16.9 million.
§ Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will report on progress with the child care strategy. [55926]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 22 May 2002]: The consultation on our document, "Building a Strategy for Children and Young People" generated a good range of comments which we are now considering. Separate reports analysing the responses from children and from young people are already available from the Children and Young People's Unit's website at "www.cypu.gov.uk/consultationresults." The Unit is currently analysing the responses from the consultation with individual adults and organisations, and this report will follow shortly.
The responses have already been fed into the consideration of services for children in the current spending review. We intend to publish our final strategy document later this year.