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Pre-school Education

Sir Ralph Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment for what reasons (a) private nurseries, (b) playgroups and (c) local education authority schools for under-fives are not subject to uniform (i) regulations and (ii) standards imposed by a single body. [4551]

Mr. Robin Squire: The regulation of different institutions is designed to correspond to the type of service they provide. Maintained schools provide education and are bound by education legislation. Private nurseries and playgroups offer day care as well as education for very young children and are therefore required to register under the Children Act 1989.

Surplus Places

Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list for each local education authority in England the number of surplus places and the money allocated to removing them using the latest available data. [4728]

Mr. Robin Squire: For the number of surplus places in each local education authority, I refer the hon. Member to the reply the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan), gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway) on Tuesday 19 March 1996, Official Report, columns 113-18.

One of our priorities for capital allocations is supporting cost-effective surplus place removal projects. The following table shows the amount allocated in 1995-96 and 1996-97, in response to local education authority bids, for the first year costs of new surplus place removal projects.

Allocations for new surplus place removal projects

		£000
	1995-96	1996-97
Avon	4,929	--
Barnsley	2,725	671
Bedfordshire	243	495
Berkshire	0	461
Bexley	175	0
Birmingham	1,077	1,290
Bolton	0	574
Bradford	346	750
Brent	14	0
Bristol	--	108
Buckinghamshire	57	467
Calderdale	0	115
Cambridgeshire	127	469
Cheshire	443	20
Cleveland	275	--
Cornwall	656	0
Coventry	120	379
Cumbria	1,180	870
Derbyshire	610	0
Devon	2	0
Doncaster	7,472	355
Durham	133	802
Ealing	0	241
East Sussex	300	1,335
Essex	1,278	1,601
Gateshead	2,500	530
Greenwich	61	741
Hackney	100	750
Hampshire	1,457	3,167
Havering	15	0
Hereford and Worcester	0	116
Hertfordshire	0	173
Humberside	1,477	--
Kent	2,663	0
Kirklees	165	398
Knowsley	50	110
Lambeth	50	0
Lancashire	35	40
Leeds	0	3,590
Liverpool	505	990
Manchester	400	240
Norfolk	387	376
Northamptonshire	340	50
North Tyneside	280	198
Northumberland	528	151
North Yorkshire	425	0
Nottinghamshire	638	805
Oxfordshire	336	495
Rochdale	0	73
Rotherham	25	281
St. Helens	0	366
Salford	435	630
Sandwell	0	610
Sefton	78	88
Sheffield	63	737
Shropshire	168	62
South Tyneside	665	400
Stockport	225	0
Sunderland	1,420	569
Trafford	0	50
Wakefield	168	120
Warwickshire	7,925	0
Wigan	1,704	50
Wiltshire	0	92
Wirral	0	665
Wolverhampton	269	1,065
York	--	25
Total	47,719	29,806

1996-97 allocations for Bristol and Cheshire are currently held in reserve pending decisions on statutory proposals.

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 417

Full-time Education

Mr, Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of 16 and 17-year-olds in England are in full-time education. [5031]

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 418

Mr. Paice: There were 70.7 per cent. of 16-year-olds and 59.3 per cent. of 17-year-olds in full-time education in England in 1995-96--provisional figures.

Nursery Inspections

Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many nursery settings have been (a) passed and (b) failed by the inspectors; [4929]

(2) if she will place in the Library a list of the establishments registering to redeem nursery vouchers, which have been inspected thus far; [4930]

(3) how many of the establishments registering to redeem nursery vouchers, due to be inspected by March 1996, have so far been inspected; [4931]

(4) what are the criteria used to assess the quality of the inspection work of the nursery inspectors; and how the work will be monitored; [4932]

(5) how many applications have been received for the post of nursery inspector and how many applications have been approved as nursery inspectors; [4933]

(6) if she will list the inspection contractors which have been appointed by the contracting administrator for the nursery voucher scheme. [4934]

Mr. Robin Squire: These are matters for Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, who heads the Office for Standards in Education. I have asked Mr. Chris Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

Tourism

13. Mr. French: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is her policy on tourism; and if she will make a statement. [2846]

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: There are six main elements to my Department's tourism policy: championing and raising the profile of tourism; increasing competitiveness; improving the quality of the tourism product; developing a world-class human resource; making marketing more effective; and managing the impact of tourism. My Department and the tourist boards are now working with an industry forum to develop by early next year a new strategy based on these elements.

Midweek Lottery Draw

14. Mr. William O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what representations she has received in respect of the proposed introduction of the midweek lottery; and if she will make a statement. [2847]

27. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many representations she has received on the subject of an additional weekly national lottery draw; and if she will make a statement. [2862]

Mr. Sproat: My Department has received 16 letters from right hon. and hon. Members and 130 from members of the public on the subject of a mid-week Lottery. The licensing of a midweek draw was a matter for the Director General of the National Lottery, subject to the provisions set out in section 4 of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993.

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 419

Millennium Funds (Plymouth)

15. Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what representations she has received regarding bids for millennium funds in respect of Plymouth. [2848]

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: The Millennium Commission, of which I am chairman, has received representations regarding Plymouth 2000 Partnership's bid "Plymouth Waterfront--A Celebration of Discovery", which is still under consideration, from the port of Plymouth, the West Country tourist board, Plymouth Marketing Bureau, and five individuals. One individual was opposed to the project.

The Commission is always pleased to hear of support or otherwise for a project, and this is one of the key criteria used in assessing applications for funding.

Sport

16. Lady Olga Maitland: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on her Department's funding for sport. [2849]

Mr. Sproat: The Department's funding provision for sport in 1996-97 is £52 million. In addition, the National lottery sports fund has provided funding for sport in England of £305 million to date and £368 million for the UK as a whole.

17. Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps she is taking to encourage young people to participate in sporting activities. [2850]

Mr. Sproat: The Government's policy statement, "Sport: Raising the Game", published in July 1995, sets out our plans for putting sport back at the heart of school life, promoting links between schools and clubs and establishing a new British academy of sport as the pinnacle of a regional network of centres of sporting excellence and academies for particular sports. In July this year, we published "Sport: Raising the Game--the First Year Report", which reports progress on all these initiatives. Work is continuing on the various initiatives and a further announcement of progress will be made in the new year.

Dance and Drama Students

18. Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what representation she has received since her recent statement on the training of dance and drama students. [2851]

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: I was delighted that on 14 October I was able to announce plans to help more students to take up places at accredited dance and drama training schools in England. My Department has since received a number of letters, mainly from members of the public, on this subject. The Arts Council of England is in the process of formulating the operational details of the new scheme, in close consultation with local authority associations. The House will, I hope, join me in congratulating the Arts Council on having identified an ingenious interim solution to this problem.

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 420

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