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Departmental Nurseries

Volume 494: debated on Thursday 25 June 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what crèche facilities his Department provides for its employees working in Whitehall. (282229)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) operates a nursery in King Charles Street, Whitehall for up to 42 children from 8-6 pm Monday to Friday. Places are open to children of staff, whether fathers or mothers and whether full-time or part-time employees.

The nursery is certified by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) as an approved day care facility for children between six months and five years of age. The nursery is managed by Bright Horizons Family Solutions, a company specialising in the running of workplace nurseries. The FCO nursery received a top ‘outstanding’ mark in a recent OFSTED inspection (24 April 2009).

The FCO also runs a nursery for staff working at its second site, Hanslope Park, near Milton Keynes.