§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what creche facilities are provided by the Lord Chancellor's Department; and at what cost. [104293]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonMy Department has 45 bought-in nursery places, and during the past year, provided 78 holiday playscheme places. These cost approximately £103,000 during the past year: £94,000 on subsidised nursery places (at a cost of £2,350 per child per annum); and £9,000 on subsidised playscheme places during school holidays (at a cost of £115 per place).
We are currently conducting a review to establish whether other forms of childcare such as vouchers and after-school care could supplement existing provision. Departmental childcare subsidies were reduced to 25 per cent. of the cost in order to assist a greater number of employees with a more flexible childcare package.
The development of a Playscheme Pack1 to support regional holiday playscheme initiatives is already underway.
My Department has participated actively in an inter-departmental Working Party in collaboration with the Daycare Trust to develop a new childcare strategy for Civil Service employees. We are contributing to the development of a toolkit to assist Departments in making a business case for the provision of childcare and the establishment of a central database of information about setting up childcare initiatives.