§ Mrs. DeanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children have benefited from the National Childcare Strategy in the Burton constituency; and if he will make a statement. [161851]
§ Margaret HodgeInformation on the number of new childcare places created in an individual constituency is available only from 1999. Staffordshire local authority reported that between April 1999 and December 2003, the latest date for which information is currently available, 1,498 new childcare places opened in Burton 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 2,800 children. During the same period, Staffordshire reported that 315 childcare places closed in Burton, so that the stock of childcare places rose by 1,183 helping some 2,300 children.