To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many state-funded nursery places there are in each local authority area; how many of these are occupied; and if he will make a statement. (277981)

Information on the number of state-funded nursery places in each local authority area is not collected centrally.

The Department publishes information on the part-time equivalent number of free early education places filled by three and four year olds. This is derived by counting children taking up 12 and a half hours per week as one place, 10 hours per week as 0.8 places, seven and a half hours per week as 0.6 places, five hours per week as 0.4 places and two and a half hours per week as 0.2 places.

The latest information on the number of free early education places filled by three and four year olds can be found in Table 5 of the Statistical First Release (SFR) 12/2008 “Provision for children under five years of age in England, January 2008” which is available on the Department’s website at:

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000790/index.shtml