To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research into the child care market his Department has commissioned in the past 12 months; what research reports have been published; and if he will make a statement. (80313)

[holding answer 26 June 2006]: The Department is highly committed to furthering our understanding of the child care market to enable the effective development and implementation of policy in this area.

To help achieve this the Department has commissioned a number of studies in this area in the past 12 months. These are:

2006-08 Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers;

Evaluation of the London Childcare Affordability Pilot;

The Childcare Market.

The Department has also published the following research reports in this area:

A Longitudinal Study of Local Childcare Markets (June 2005);

Childcare and Early Years Provision: A Study of Parents’ Use, Views and Experiences (March 2006);

2005 Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey (May 2006).

These reports are available on the DfES website at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/