To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he proposes to take in respect of the part of his "Starting with Quality" report on under-fives dealing with the number of places in nursery education.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals he has to increase the number of places in nursery education.

The committee of inquiry urged increases in overall provision for the under-fives—including childcare —rather than in nursery education specifically. It is for local authorities to decide how far this can be given priority. Much is being done: the numbers of under-fives in maintained schools went up by 29,000 between 1989 and 1990.