Children: Day Care

Mr. Hayes

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many childcare places (a) opened and (b) closed in 2005-06. (148240)

The information requested is shown in the table.

*Table 1: Number of childcare places that have opened and closed in 2005-06, England*
	Number
Opened	214,800
Childminders	48,800
Full day care	90,900
Out of school	75,200

Closed	144,600
Childminders	44,800
Full day care	48,700
Out of school	51,100

Net steady state changes¹	+8,900
Childminders	+2,100
Full day care	+5,600

Out of school	+1,200
Net change	+79,100
¹ The net steady state refers to registered providers whose registration status has not changed, but whose number of places has fluctuated over the period in question. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 if under 100, and to the nearest 100 if over 100. Source: Ofsted

Ofsted have produced figures on the numbers of registered childcare providers and places on a quarterly basis from March 2003. Their latest published figures are available on their website

www.Ofsted.gov.uk/

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to encourage diversity of provision in childcare. (148241)

The Government believe that the best child care market is a diverse one which offers parents real choice about the type of child care they can access. Accordingly, the Childcare Act 2006 builds on our 10-year child care strategy to help maintain and strengthen the great diversity that already exists.

The Act requires local authorities to complete, by April 2008, an assessment of the sufficiency of child care in their area, including the extent to which parents' requirements for different types of provision are being satisfied, It then requires local authorities to secure the provision of sufficient child care to meet the requirements of working parents, with particular attention to the needs of those with low incomes or disabled children.

From October this year, the Act will place a restriction on local authorities providing child care where there are alternative and appropriate means of delivery available in the market. Before providing new child care themselves, local authorities will have to determine whether another provider is willing to provide it and whether it is appropriate, in all the circumstances, for the authority to provide the child care itself.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what representations he has received on provision of Care to Learn support for teenage mothers who commence a course over the age of 19 years. (148523)

[holding answer 9 July 2007]: The Department and the Learning and Skills Council have received representations from various bodies to further extend Care to Learn support to young adult parents who want to go into learning and have difficulty accessing child care. We extended Care to Learn to 19-year-olds in August 2006 and teenage parents receiving Care to Learn support can carry on receiving help past their 20th birthday while they continue on their course.

As I announced on 28 July, I am making available an additional £75 million, over the next three years, to support 50,000 workless families with child care to help them access training and move into work.

Volume 462: debated on Tuesday 10 July 2007