§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate the Government have made of the percentage of GDP the UK has spent on child care provision in each year since 1997. [186826]
§ Margaret HodgeThe latest available data on child care expenditure, reported in the 2004 DfES Department Report and by Sure Start, show that child care expenditure has risen from 0.001 per cent. of GDP in England in 1997–98 to 0.02 per cent. in 2002–03. Expenditure on Early Years services has risen from 0.2 per cent. of GDP in England in 1997–98 to 0.251 per cent. of GDP in 2002–03.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate the Government have made of the number of privately run nurseries in each year since 1997(a) broken down by region and (b) in St. Helens. [187363]
§ Margaret HodgeThe Department does not collect this information on a regular basis. According to the Childcare and Early Years Workforce Survey for 2003–04 there were 7,700 privately—owned full day care providers in England in 2003 but these are not broken down by region or local authority district.
Of the 1216 neighbourhood nurseries that are now open, 498 are operated by the private sector—over 40 per cent. The regional breakdown is set out in the table.
1799W
Region Number of private neighbourhood nurseries East of England 18 East Midlands 42 London 61 North East 67 North West 113 South East 27 South West 32 West Midlands 62 Yorkshire and the Number 76 Nine neighbourhood nurseries have been developed in St. Helens. Of these six are privately-run.
type=span £000 April 2001 to July 20011 August 2001 to July 2002 August 2002 to July 2003 Learning and Skills Council Area Basic skills Key skills Basic skills Key skills Basic skills Key skills London North 8,753 985 14,099 1,395 18,829 1,921 London West 13,671 858 24,013 1,629 29,303 1,652 London Central 18,207 1,119 38,694 1,733 38,130 1,204 London East 14,746 1,476 31,412 2,114 39,783 2,367 London South 5,758 998 13,241 1,488 15,398 1,728 Total 61,135 5,436 121,459 8,359 141,443 8,872 1The figures for April to July 2001 include costs incurred from august 2002 on learning aims continuing into April 2001. From the information available to the LSC it has not been feasible to obtain estimates at borough level or separate figures by subject without incurring disproportionate cost. Likewise it has not been feasible to obtain comparable figures for periods before April 2001 when the Skills for Life strategy was launched and the LSC was formed, but information shows it was considerably less than at present