I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available, as employers and employees are not required to report the provision of tax exempt child care vouchers.
However, research commissioned by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in 2005, by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/research-report23.htm
estimates the proportion of employers that offer Employer Supported Childcare (ESC) split by Government office region (Table A.7, Appendix A, page 19).
These numbers should be treated with caution as the employee take-up rate and use of vouchers as opposed to other forms of ESC would likely vary from region to region and these figures do not account for employees working in one region and living in another. No estimates are made for Chorley constituency or Lancashire.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 13 January 2010, Official Report, column 1062W.
Information is not available specifically on the number of childminders who enter the profession. However, Ofsted have collected information on the number of registered child care providers and registered child care places available to children under eight years of age on a quarterly basis from March 2003.
All information, including numbers of childminders, by local authority, is published on Ofsted's website and can be found using the following links:
Information from 2008 onwards:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Statistics/Childcare-and-early-years/Childcare-providers-and-places/Registered-childcare-providers-and-places-in-England-December-2008-onwards
Information between September 2006 and August 2008:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Statistics/Childcare-and-early-years/Childcare-providers-and-places/Registered-childcare-providers-and-places-in-England-September-2006-to-August-2008
Information between March 2003 and June 2006:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Statistics/Childcare-and-early-years/Childcare-providers-and-places/Registered-childcare-providers-and-places-in-England-March-2003-June-2006
In addition, Ofsted has published figures on childminders joining and leaving the register since November 2006, which showed figures for childminders joining and leaving the register between April 2005 and September 2006. These data are shown in each local authority's Early Years Statistical Profile, available via each local authority's page on the Ofsted website:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_providers/list_by_la
With the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage in September 2008 Ofsted reviewed its publications and decided to incorporate data on providers joining and leaving registers in its regular quarterly publication on child care providers and places. Ofsted published these datasets together for the first time in January 2010, showing figures of providers joining and leaving the registers between 1 October 2009 and 31 December 2009:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Statistics/Childcare-and-early-years/Childcare-providers-and-places/Registered-childcare-providers-and-places-in-England-December-2008-onwards
Information on the number of childcare places registered with Ofsted available nationally and in each London borough is shown in the following table.
In ‘Choice for parents: the best start for Children’ the Government set out a range of targets and ambitions, to achieve its 10-year childcare strategy, including some to be achieved by 2010. However, many of these were not expressed in terms of delivering a specific number of places.
The ambition to ensure parents can access suitable childcare places has been met by placing duties on all English local authorities to assess and secure sufficient childcare places in their area for children aged 0-14 (18 for disabled children).
Region Places England 1,321,100 Inner London City of London 300 Camden 5,500 Hackney 6,000 Hammersmith and Fulham 4,300 Haringey 4,900 Islington 4,600 Kensington and Chelsea 3,700 Lambeth 7,300 Lewisham 7,600 Newham 4,800 Southwark 9,000 Tower Hamlets 4,200 Wandsworth 8,300 Westminster 3,800 Outer London Barking and Dagenham 4,000 Barnet 8,800 Bexley 5,400 Brent 6,000 Bromley 10,300 Croydon 11,000 Ealing 7,800 Enfield 7,200 Greenwich 6,800 Harrow 4,700 Havering 5,000 Hillingdon 6,300 Hounslow 4,900 Kingston upon Thames 4,600 Merton 4,600 Redbridge 6,400 Richmond upon Thames 6,900 Sutton 4,500 Waltham Forest 6,400 1 Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. 2 Data Source: Ofsted—total includes childminders, child care on non-domestic premises, child care on domestic premises and home child carer.
[holding answer 6 April 2010]: This is a matter for Ofsted. The Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and copies of her reply will be placed in the House Libraries.