§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) three and (b) four-year-old children in Nottingham, North attended nursery (i) in 1997 and (ii) in the most recent period for which figures are available. [98328]
§ Maria EagleThe information is not available in the form requested.
The available information on the numbers of free early education places taken up by three and four-year-olds in Nottingham City local education authority for 1997 and 2002 are shown in the table.
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Numbers of free early education places taken up by three and four-year-olds, Nottingham City local education authority area 1997 and 2002 Position in January each year 1997 2002 3-year-olds Maintained nursery and primary schools1,2 1,800 — Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers3 n/a — 4-year-olds 3,900 — Total 5,700 —
Numbers of free early education places taken up by three and four-year-olds, Nottingham City local education authority area 1997 and 2002 Position in January each year 1997 2002 3-year-olds Maintained nursery and primary schools1 — 2,400 Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers3 — 690 4-year-olds — Maintained nursery and primary schools4 — 3,000 Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers5 — 430 Total 4-year-olds6 — 3,430 Total — 6,520 n/a = not available 1Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools Census 2 Summer term 1997. 3 Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise. Nursery Education Grant for three-year-olds was allocated to the 65 LEAs in 1999–2000 and all LEAs from 2000–2001. 4Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools Census. 5 Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education grant data collection exercise. 6 The total 4-year-old figure for 2002 combines two sources of information, the Annual Schools' Census and Nursery Education Grant data. In previous years, only Nursery Education Grant data was used. Latest figures on three and four-year-olds in early years education providers were published by the Department in the Statistical Bulletin "Provision for Children Under Five Years of Age in England—January 2002 (08/2002)" in December 2002, a copy of which is available from the Library. An electronic copy of this publication is also available on the Department's website (www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics).
§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many nursery places in England and Wales there were for children(a) under three years and (b) from three years to compulsory school age for each year since 1997. [96802]
§ Mr. MilibandThe available information on the number of free early years educatquoteion places taken up by three and four-year-olds in each year since 1997 is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Number1,2 of 3 and 4-year-olds taking up free early years education places England 1997–2002 Position in January each year 3-year-olds 4-year-olds Total 1997 214,200 576,200 790,300 1998 222,000 591,500 813,500 1999 225,700 593,800 819,500 2000 270,200 598,500 868,600 2001 335,400 589,300 924,700 2002 408,200 584,500 992,800 1 Rounded to the nearest hundred. 2 Sum over 3 and 4-year-olds may not equal total because of rounding. All four-year-olds have been able to access a free, part-time early education place since September 1998. Since September 1999, we have invested substantially in 859W new free early years education places for three-year-olds. The table shows that the number of free early years education places taken up by three-year-olds increased from 214,200 in 1997 to 408,200 in 2002, an increase of 194,000 places. We are committed to providing all three year-olds, whose parents want one, with free early years education places by April 2004.
The latest figures on provision for three and four-year-olds were published in Statistical Bulletin 09/2002 "Provision For Children Under Five Years Of Age in England-January 2002", which is available from the Library or the Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/ statistics/.
Information for Wales is a matter for the Education Department of the Assembly for Wales.