§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the availability of qualified teacher status training for Welsh residents in English teacher training colleges located close to the Welsh border. [161760]
§ Mr. MilibandIn 2004/05, 35,800 places on courses of initial teacher training will be available at institutions located in England, more than at any time since the 1980s. This has allowed the number of places allocated to providers in the three Government Office Regions which border Wales to grow from 12,700 in the current year to 13,337 in 2004/05. Students from Wales who take up places on a Postgraduate Certificate in Education course in England are eligible to receive a £6,000 training bursary from the Government on the same basis as those who are normally resident in England.
234WBuckingham have gained from the National Childcare Strategy; and if he will make a statement;[161311]
(2) how many child care places have been created in Buckingham since 1997. [161563]
§ Margaret HodgeInformation on the number of new child care places created in an individual constituency is available only from 1999. Buckinghamshire local authority reported that between April 1999 and December 2003, 1,166 new child care places opened in Buckingham constituency. A place typically helps more than one child, as not all children take up places full-time, and we estimate these places will help some 2,200 children. During the same period, Buckinghamshire reported that 100 child care places closed in Buckingham, so that the stock of child care places rose by 1,066.