§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list by local authority area how many children are(a) aged under five years old and (b) aged under eight years, and the number of registered child care places. [161984]
§ Margaret HodgeThe information requested is shown in the table. Statistics on the number of childcare places registered in England were published on 19 February 2004 in a report by OfSTED "Registered Childcare Providers and Places in England, 31 December 2003". The report is available on the OfSTED website, www.ofsted.gov.uk/ publications.
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Number of children1 aged under five and eight years old and the number of registered childcare places2,3,4 LEA name Children aged under five years old Children aged under eight years old Number of registered childcare places England 2,863,700 4,688,500 1,392,800 North East 134,000 223,700 58,800 Hartlepool 5,100 8,700 2,100 Middlesbrough 8,000 13,300 4,700 Redcar and Cleveland 7,300 12,400 2,800 Stockton-on-Tees 10,100 16,900 4,400 Darlington 5,600 9,300 3,400 Durham 25,200 42,300 9,800 Northumberland 15,500 2,600 8,100 Gateshead 10,500 17,200 4,000 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 13,900 22,600 7,100 North Tyneside 10,100 16,800 4,400 South Tyneside 8,000 13,600 3,900 Sunderland 14,700 24,600 4,100 North West 384,800 636,900 195,700 Halton 7,100 11,500 4,000 Warrington 11,400 18,700 8,300 Cheshire 36,700 61,400 23,500 Cumbria 24,400 41,100 11,100 Bolton 16,200 26,700 7,700 Bury 10,900 18,000 7,300 Manchester 25,400 40,600 12,900 Oldham 15,000 24,200 7,400 Rochdale 13,300 21,800 6,800 Salford 12,100 19,900 6,200 Stockport 15,800 26,300 7,900 Tameside 12,500 20,700 6,300 Trafford 11,900 20,700 6,300 Wigan 17,000 28,300 8,400 Blackburn with Darwen 10,400 17,000 4,100 Blackpool 7,400 12,400 4,000 Lancashire 63,300 105,200 31,000 1180W
Number of children1 aged under five and eight years old and the number of registered childcare places2,3,4 LEA name Children aged under five years old Children aged under five years old Number of registered childcare places Knowsley 9,000 15,100 3,500 Liverpool 24,000 39,200 9,600 St.Helens 9,800 16,500 3,800 Sefton 14,200 24,500 5,300 Wirral 17,000 28,500 8,800 Yorkshire and Humberside 285,300 471,800 120,800 East Riding of Yorkshire 15,800 26,700 8,400 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 14,200 23,900 4,700 North East Lincolnshire 9,200 15,500 2,800 York 9,100 14,800 5,300 North Yorkshire 29,100 49,100 17,900 Barnsley 12,100 20,500 3,500 Doncaster 16,600 27,400 4,900 Rotherham 14,600 24,200 4,700 Sheffield 28,300 46,600 12,900 Bradford 33,600 53,700 10,800 Calderdale 11,800 19,400 6,500 Kirkless 25,100 40,900 11,000 Leeds 39,700 65,600 19,200 Wakefield 17,600 29,300 5,000 East Midlands 234,600 388,500 121,000 Derby 13,500 21,900 6,800 Derbyshire 39,600 66,500 17,400 Leicester City 18,900 30,200 8,400 Rutland 1,800 3,000 1,200 Leicestrshire 33,800 55,900 20,000 Lincolnshire 33,500 56,400 18,600 Northamptonshire 38,600 63,200 19,000 Nottingham 15,000 24,200 7700 Nottinghamshire 39,900 67,200 21,900 West Midlands 312,300 513,200 151,800 Herefordshire 9,200 15,400 5,800 Worcestershire 29,600 49,300 18,000 Telford and Wrekin 10,200 16,800 5,600 Shropshire 14,700 24,700 8,500 Stroke-on-Trent 13,400 21,800 5,700 Staffordshire 43,600 72,500 25,800 Warwickshire 28,200 46,700 16,000 Birmingham 69,300 111,000 28,100 Coventry 18,300 29,900 8,500 Dudley 17,100 28,400 6,200 Sandwell 17,900 29,200 5,600 Solihull 10,900 18,600 7,000 Walsall 16,100 26,300 5,200 Wolverhampton 13,800 22,600 5,800 East of England 315,300 518,000 156,800 Luton 13,200 21,100 4,000 Bedfordshire 24,000 39,100 12,300 Peterborough 10,100 16,600 6,600 Cambridgeshire 31,800 51,900 20,000 Southend-on-Sea 9,500 15,600 4,100 Thurrock 9,800 15,700 3,500 Essex 75,800 124,800 33,900 Hertfordshire 63,900 104,100 34,600 Norfolk 39,900 66,900 20,100 Suffolk 37,300 62,200 17,700 London 472,400 742,800 182,500 Inner London 189,500 290,200 69,200 City of London 300 400 400 Camden 12,100 18,500 5,100 Hackney 16,900 25,500 3,800 Hammersmith and Fulham 10,300 15,500 3,600 Haringey 14,800 23,000 3,900 Islington 10,900 16,800 5,100 Lambeth 17,800 27,200 6,400 Lewisham 17,300 27,000 6,300 Newham 20,400 32,300 5,500 Southwark 17,100 26,600 7,600 Towers Hamlets 15,300 23,500 3,800 1181W
Number of children1 aged under five and eight years old and the number of registered childcare places2,3,4 LEA name Children aged under five years old Children aged under eight year old Number of registered childcare places Wandsworth 16,400 24,500 9,500 Westminster 9,900 14,400 4,000 Outer London 282,900 452,600 113,300 Barking and Dagenham 12,300 19,900 3,100 Barnet 20,100 32,300 8,000 Bexley 13,000 21,400 5,100 Brent 16,300 25,600 5,700 Bromley 18,200 29,200 9,100 Croydon 21,900 35,600 9,500 Baling 18,800 29,700 7,800 Enfield 18,100 29,000 6,100 Greenwich 15,500 24,100 6,200 Harrow 12,000 19,500 4,900 Havering 12,200 20,600 4,600 Hillingdon 15,600 25,500 6,300 Hounslow 13,900 21,800 4,500 Kingston-upon-Thames 9,100 14,300 4,400 Merton 12,300 19,200 5,200 Redbridge 15,400 25,000 5,400 Richmond-upon-Thames 11,800 17,900 6,400 Sutton 11,200 18,200 4,500 Waltham Forest 15,200 23,800 6,500 South East 462,000 757,400 261,900 Bracknell Forest 7,300 11,900 4,400 Windsor and Maidenhead 8,100 12,900 5,200 West Berkshire 8,600 14,100 5,600 Reading 8,600 13,600 5,200 Slough 8,100 13,000 2,300 Wokingham 8,900 14,600 6,300 Milton Keynes 14,200 23,000 8,300 Buckinghamshire 30,000 48,600 17,200 Brighton and Hove 12,900 20,500 7,100 East Sussex 25,700 42,900 14,100 Portsmouth 10,700 17,100 6,600 Southampton 11,700 19,100 6,800 Hampshire 70,400 116,600 42,200 Isle of Wight 6,200 10,700 3,400 Medway 15,800 26,100 7,900 Kent 76,900 127,600 38,300 Oxfordshire 35,000 56,600 22,100 Surrey 61,500 100,200 36,500 West Sussex 41,400 68,300 22,400 South West 263,000 436,200 143,500 Bath and North East Somerset 8,800 14,300 4,500 Bristol, City of 22,700 35,700 10,100 North Somerset 10,300 17,100 4,900 South Gloucestershire 14,700 24,500 7,700 Cornwall 25,600 42,600 12,200 Isles of Scilly 100 200 100 Torbay 6,000 10,300 2,400 Plymouth 12,800 21,100 6,500 Devon 33,900 57,600 20,000 Bournemouth 8,000 13,100 4,600 Poole 6,900 11,500 3,200 Dorset 18,100 30,900 9,000 Gloucestershire 31,600 52,100 20,500 Somerset 26,500 44,200 15,900 Swindon 11,000 18,100 6,700 Wiltshire 26,000 42,900 15.200 1Mid year estimates 2002. 2 Registered places are not the number of places occupied, nor the number of children who may benefit from receiving places through providers offering sessions at different times of the day. The number of registered places is likely to be higher than the actual number of registered places as not all providers will immediately inform Ofsted that they have ceased their provision. For about 7 per cent. of providers, the database does not hold the number of registered places. In these cases, the number of places has been estimated and included in the figures shown. 3Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Due to rounding, data may differ from that published by Ofsted. 4Includes childminders, full day care and sessional day care, out of school care and crèches.
§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to register sitting services as accredited child care providers. [161988]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 18 March 2004]Sitter services are becoming increasingly popular, particularly in Scotland, and we are actively investigating the role they could play in England. We believe they can be very useful as a means of enabling parents, especially lone parents, to work atypical hours, and for providing parents of disabled children with child care in their home or with respite care. In particular, using a sitter service to provide home-based child care removes the need for the parent to act as employer. The availability of such a service could also make it much easier for 24 hour service sector employers to recruit and retain employees.
Currently, sitter services do not have to be registered under the Children Act. However, as announced in the Budget, we shall be consulting in the early summer on extending the scope of accredited child care through a new light touch voluntary scheme, to be implemented by April 2005. Accreditation would enable eligible parents to gain working tax credit support for their child care costs, such support currently not being available for users of sitter services. Child care carried out in the parents' home will be considered as part of this consultation.
§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the(a) availability and (b) affordability of quality child care.[162621]
§ Margaret HodgeThe National Childcare Strategy was established in 1998 to ensure that accessible, affordable and quality child care for children up to the age of 14, and 16 for those with special needs, is available in every area.
We have funded a substantial expansion in child care provision of the public, private and voluntary sectors, with a wide variety of types of child care—nurseries, childminders, before and after school provision increasingly delivered alongside early education and other family services—to ensure diversity and choice for parents. To ensure quality National Standards for Under Eights day care and child minding were introduced from September 2001. They set a national benchmark below which no provider may fall. Responsibility for registration and inspection transferred from local authorities to the Early Years Directorate of Ofsted at that time.
By December 2003, more than 920,000 new child care places had been created since 1997, benefiting over 1.6 million children. This means that we have met our target of creating new places for 1.6 million children by March 2004, and are on track to create places for over 2 million by 2006.
At January 2004, 300,000 lower and middle income families were benefiting from the child care element of the new working tax credit, 120,000 more than benefited under the previous arrangements through working families tax credit—and over six times as many as the 47,000 who benefited from the child care disregard under the previous administration's family credit.