§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many nursery places have been available in Lancashire in each year since 1997. [57282]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 20 May 2002]The available information is shown in the table.
Table 1: Number of places at day nurseries1 England and Lancashire local authority area 1997–2001 Position as at 31 March each area England Lancashire local authority area 1997 193,800 29,900 1998 223,000 3— 1999 247,700 8,800 2000 264,200 9,600 2001 285,100 10,900 1 Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. 2 Includes Blackburn and Darwen and Blackpool. 3 Not available. The figures are as returned by local authorities. Figures for Lancashire local authority area for 1999–2001 are not directly comparable with 1997 because they do not include Blackburn and Darwen and Blackpool local authority areas.
The latest figures on day care facilities in England were published by my Department in Statistical Bulletin 08/01 "Children's Day Care facilities at 31 March 2001" in October 2001, a copy of which is available from the 278W Library. An electronic copy of this publication is also available on my Department's web-site www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics.
The increase in the number of day nursery places ensures that a wide choice of child care provision is available to parents. We expect this trend to continue with the creation of 45,000 places in neighbourhood nurseries (equivalent to 900 new 50 place nurseries) in disadvantaged areas.