§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what creche facilities are provided by her Department; and at what cost. [104289]
§ Alun MichaelDefra provide 149 full-time subsidised nursery places for Departmental and Agency staff at six sites. The actual number of children using the nurseries is higher than this figure due to many of the places being allocated on a part-time basis. The cost of nursery places and the amount of subsidy varies for each location.
School holiday playscheme places are also available to Departmental and Agency staff working at eight sites. The number of users varies at each site and for each school holiday period.
The overall cost of this provision for the HQ offices (York and London) during the 2002–2003 financial year is estimated to be £88,500. Childcare facilities at other sites are funded from local budgets. Defra keeps its childcare provision arrangements under regular review.