(2) what estimate the House of Commons Commission has made of the (a) running cost and (b) income of the proposed nursery in the first 12 months of its operation.
The nursery is being designed to provide child care for up to 40 children between the ages of birth and five years. According to child care experts, there will be a build-up of usage over a period: the average usage for the first 12 months of a new nursery is likely to be around 40 per cent. No breakdown of usage as between the children of Members and the children of others has been estimated at present: much will depend on the make-up of the next Parliament. The intention in the longer term is to recover the operating costs through the charges made to users. Disclosure of expected operating costs at this stage could undermine the House’s position in the commercial competition for a nursery operator.