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29 Mar 2004 : Column 1177W—continued

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Asylum-seeking Children

Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been under the care of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1998; and how many in that time left care having reached 18 years of age. [162501]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 22 March 2004]: Information on unaccompanied asylum seeking children being 'looked after' (within the meaning of the Children Act 1989) by local authorities was collected for the first time in 2002. On 31 March 2002, there were 15 children (rounded to the nearest five) under the age of 18 years looked after by London Borough of Hounslow. 2003 data will be available at the end of March 2004.

Careers Service

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his policy is on the provision of a careers service for young people; and if he will make a statement. [163649]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 5 March 2004]: Responsibility for providing young people with the advice and support they need to make informed learning

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and career choices is shared between Connexions and schools. Schools provide the underpinning skills young people need to investigate options and manage transitions through learning into work, through a planned programme of careers education in years nine-11 (to be extended to years seven and eight from September 2004). This is complemented by support from Connexions at key decision-making and transition points. All young people aged 13–19 have access to Connexions, with the level of support provided in each individual case being differentiated according to need.

In order to assure ourselves that the current arrangements are robust—in particular in light of changes to the 14–19 phase of education announced in January last year—we have initiated a review of careers education and guidance which will report in Summer 2004.

Child Care

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list by local authority area how many children are (a) aged under five years old and (b) aged under eight years, and the number of registered child care places. [161984]

Margaret Hodge: The information requested is shown in the table. Statistics on the number of childcare places registered in England were published on 19 February 2004 in a report by OfSTED "Registered Childcare Providers and Places in England, 31 December 2003". The report is available on the OfSTED website, www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications.

Number of children(5) aged under five and eight years old and the number of registered childcare places(6) , (7) , (8)

LEA nameChildren aged under five years oldChildren aged under eight years oldNumber of registered childcare places
England2,863,7004,688,5001,392,800
North East134,000223,70058,800
Hartlepool5,1008,7002,100
Middlesbrough8,00013,3004,700
Redcar and Cleveland7,30012,4002,800
Stockton-on-Tees10,10016,9004,400
Darlington5,6009,3003,400
Durham25,20042,3009,800
Northumberland15,50026,0008,100
Gateshead10,50017,2004,000
Newcastle-upon-Tyne13,90022,6007,100
North Tyneside10,10016,8004,400
South Tyneside8,00013,6003,900
Sunderland14,70024,6004,100
North West384,800636,900195,700
Halton7,10011,5004,000
Warrington11,40018,7008,300
Cheshire36,70061,40023,500
Cumbria24,40041,10011,100
Bolton16,20026,7007,700
Bury10,90018,0007,300
Manchester25,40040,60012,900
Oldham15,00024,2007,400
Rochdale13,30021,8006,800
Salford12,10019,9006,200
Stockport15,80026,3007,900
Tameside12,50020,7006,300
Trafford11,90019,3008,400
Wigan17,00028,3007,800
Blackburn with Darwen10,40017,0004,100
Blackpool7,40012,4004,000
Lancashire63,300105,20031,000
Knowsley9,00015,1003,500
Liverpool24,00039,2009,600
St. Helens9,80016,5003,800
Sefton14,20024,5005,300
Wirral17,00028,5008,800
Yorkshire and Humberside285,300471,800120,800
East Riding of Yorkshire15,80026,7008,400
Kingston Upon Hull, City of14,20023,9004,700
North East Lincolnshire9,20015,5002,800
North Lincolnshire8,50014,2003,200
York9,10014,8005,300
North Yorkshire29,10049,10017,900
Barnsley12,10020,5003,500
Doncaster16,60027,4004,900
Rotherham14,60024,2004,700
Sheffield28,30046,60012,900
Bradford33,60053,70010,800
Calderdale11,80019,4006,500
Kirklees25,10040,90011,000
Leeds39,70065,60019,200
Wakefield17,60029,3005,000
East Midlands234,600388,500121,000
Derby13,50021,9006,800
Derbyshire39,60066,50017,400
Leicester City18,90030,2008,400
Rutland1,8003,0001,200
Leicestershire33,80055,90020,000
Lincolnshire33,50056,40018,600
Northamptonshire38,60063,20019,000
Nottingham15,00024,2007700
Nottinghamshire39,90067,20021,900
West Midlands312,300513,200151,800
Herefordshire9,20015,4005,800
Worcestershire29,60049,30018,000
Telford and Wrekin10,20016,8005,600
Shropshire14,70024,7008,500
Stoke-on-Trent13,40021,8005,700
Staffordshire43,60072,50025,800
Warwickshire28,20046,70016,000
Birmingham69,300111,00028,100
Coventry18,30029,9008,500
Dudley17,10028,4006,200
Sandwell17,90029,2005,600
Solihull10,90018,6007,000
Walsall16,10026,3005,200
Wolverhampton13,80022,6005,800
East of England315,300518,000156,800
Luton13,20021,1004,000
Bedfordshire24,00039,10012,300
Peterborough10,10016,6006,600
Cambridgeshire31,80051,90020,000
Southend-on-Sea9,50015,6004,100
Thurrock9,80015,7003,500
Essex75,800124,80033,900
Hertfordshire63,900104,10034,600
Norfolk39,90066,90020,100
Suffolk37,30062,20017,700
London472,400742,800182,500
Inner London189,500290,20069,200
City of London300400400
Camden12,10018,5005,100
Hackney16,90025,5003,800
Hammersmith and Fulham10,30015,5003,600
Haringey14,80023,0003,900
Islington10,90016,8005,100
Kensington and Chelsea10,00015,0004,200
Lambeth17,80027,2006,400
Lewisham17,30027,0006,300
Newham20,40032,3005,500
Southwark17,10026,6007,600
Tower Hamlets15,30023,5003,800
Wandsworth16,40024,5009,500
Westminster9,90014,4004,000
Outer London282,900452,600113,300
Barking and Dagenham12,30019,9003,100
Barnet20,10032,3008,000
Bexley13,00021,4005,100
Brent16,30025,6005,700
Bromley18,20029,2009,100
Croydon21,90035,6009,500
Baling18,80029,7007,800
Enfield18,10029,0006,100
Greenwich15,50024,1006,200
Harrow12,00019,5004,900
Havering12,20020,6004,600
Hillingdon15,60025,5006,300
Hounslow13,90021,8004,500
Kingston-upon-Thames9,10014,3004,400
Merton12,30019,2005,200
Redbridge15,40025,0005,400
Richmond-upon-Thames11,80017,9006,400
Sutton11,20018,2004,500
Waltham Forest15,20023,8006,500
South East462,000757,400261,900
Bracknell Forest7,30011,9004,400
Windsor and Maidenhead8,10012,9005,200
West Berkshire8,60014,1005,600
Reading8,60013,6005,200
Slough8,10013,0002,300
Wokingham8,90014,6006,300
Milton Keynes14,20023,0008,300
Buckinghamshire30,00048,60017,200
Brighton and Hove12,90020,5007,100
East Sussex25,70042,90014,100
Portsmouth10,70017,1006,600
Southampton11,70019,1006,800
Hampshire70,400116,60042,200
Isle of Wight6,20010,7003,400
Medway15,80026,1007,900
Kent76,900127,60038,300
Oxfordshire35,00056,60022,100
Surrey61,500100,20036,500
West Sussex41,40068,30022,400
South West263,000436,200143,500
Bath and North East Somerset8,80014,3004,500
Bristol, City of22,70035,70010,100
North Somerset10,30017,1004,900
South Gloucestershire14,70024,5007,700
Cornwall25,60042,60012,200
Isles of Scilly100200100
Torbay6,00010,3002,400
Plymouth12,80021,1006,500
Devon33,90057,60020,000
Bournemouth8,00013,1004,600
Poole6,90011,5003,200
Dorset18,10030,9009,000
Gloucestershire31,60052,10020,500
Somerset26,50044,20015,900
Swindon11,00018,1006,700
Wiltshire26,00042,90015,200

(5) Mid year estimates 2002.

(6) Registered places are not the number of places occupied, nor the number of children who may benefit from receiving places through providers offering sessions at different times of the day. The number of registered places is likely to be higher than the actual number of registered places as not all providers will immediately inform Ofsted that they have ceased their provision. For about 7 per cent. of providers, the database does not hold the number of registered places. In these cases, the number of places has been estimated and included in the figures shown.

(7) Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Due to rounding, data may differ from that published by Ofsted.

(8) Includes childminders, full day care and sessional day care, out of school care and crèches.


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Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to register sitting services as accredited child care providers. [161988]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 18 March 2004]: Sitter services are becoming increasingly popular, particularly in Scotland, and we are actively investigating the role they could play in England. We believe they can be very useful as a means of enabling parents, especially lone parents, to work atypical hours, and for providing parents of disabled children with child care in their home or with respite care. In particular, using a sitter service to provide home-based child care removes the need for the parent to act as employer. The availability of such a service could also make it much easier for 24 hour service sector employers to recruit and retain employees.

Currently, sitter services do not have to be registered under the Children Act. However, as announced in the Budget, we shall be consulting in the early summer on extending the scope of accredited child care through a new light touch voluntary scheme, to be implemented by April 2005. Accreditation would enable eligible parents to gain working tax credit support for their child care costs, such support currently not being available for users of sitter services. Child care carried out in the parents' home will be considered as part of this consultation.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the (a) availability and (b) affordability of quality child care. [162621]

Margaret Hodge: The National Childcare Strategy was established in 1998 to ensure that accessible, affordable and quality child care for children up to the age of 14, and 16 for those with special needs, is available in every area.

We have funded a substantial expansion in child care provision of the public, private and voluntary sectors, with a wide variety of types of child care—nurseries, childminders, before and after school provision increasingly delivered alongside early education and other family services—to ensure diversity and choice for parents. To ensure quality National Standards for Under Eights day care and child minding were introduced from September 2001. They set a national benchmark below which no provider may fall. Responsibility for registration and inspection transferred from local authorities to the Early Years Directorate of Ofsted at that time.

By December 2003, more than 920,000 new child care places had been created since 1997, benefiting over 1.6 million children. This means that we have met our target of creating new places for 1.6 million children by March 2004, and are on track to create places for over 2 million by 2006.

At January 2004, 300,000 lower and middle income families were benefiting from the child care element of the new working tax credit, 120,000 more than benefited under the previous arrangements through working families tax credit—and over six times as many as the 47,000 who benefited from the child care disregard under the previous administration's family credit.

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