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Nurseries

Volume 508: debated on Thursday 25 March 2010

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) when the application for planning permission for change of use in connection with the proposed creation of a day nursery at 1 Parliament Street was submitted; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the application; (324260)

(2) when the application for listed building consent in connection with the proposed creation of a day nursery at 1 Parliament street was submitted; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the application.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 23 March 2010, Official Report, column 170W.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what estimate the House of Commons Commission has made of the extent to which charges for places in the proposed day nursery at 1 Parliament street will meet the costs of its provision; and what the weekly subsidy per place is for which the Commission has budgeted in 2010-11. (324261)

The commercial competition for a nursery operator is currently in progress which will provide information relevant to the operating costs for the nursery. In order to avoid undermining the House’s position in the commercial competition, it is not possible to disclose any further information at this stage. According to childcare experts, there is likely to be a build up of usage over a period: the average use of the first 12 months of a new nursery is likely to be around 40 per cent. The intention in the longer term is to recover the full operating costs through the charges made to users.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the closing date is for the receipt of tenders from day nursery operators for the contract to run a day nursery at 1 Parliament Street; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the specification for the contract. (324264)

The deadline for the receipt of tenders from nursery operators was Friday 19 March 2010. A copy of the specification for the contract will be placed in the Library.