To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when the findings from the 20 authorities involved in the flexible extended free entitlement pathfinder projects will be published. (196172)

[holding answer 25 March 2008]: Findings from an evaluation of the pathfinder authorities will be published in late 2008. Lessons learned from the pathfinder authorities will also form a key part of the new statutory guidance, which we will consult on in 2009. The guidance will come into force from September 2010 when all local authorities will be delivering the extended flexible entitlement to all their eligible children.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of private, voluntary and independent nurseries surveyed in each of the 20 authorities involved in the flexible extended free entitlement pathfinder projects reported that the nursery education grant they receive does not meet the costs of running their nursery. (196174)

[holding answer 25 March 2008]: This information is not held centrally.

In June 2007 as part of the wider Schools Funding Reforms, we asked all local authorities to complete an analysis into the cost of delivering the free entitlement in private, voluntary and independent settings, in the run up to agreeing local budgets for April 2008 onwards. These reforms are designed to support the extension of the free entitlement and to address the inconsistencies in how the offer is currently funded across the maintained and private, voluntary and independent sectors. These reforms are part of the requirement for local authorities to use a single local formula for funding early years provision in both sectors from 2010.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many childcare information kiosks were installed by his Department and its predecessor in each year since 2000. (196185)

The Department has not installed any childcare information kiosks since 2000. However, some local authorities have installed kiosks in children’s services locations, such as CIS and children’s centres, and these have been paid for by the relevant authority (including using delegated funding such as the Sure Start grant).