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25 Oct 2004 : Column 973W—continued
Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by how much she estimates carbon dioxide emissions have increased this year; what assessment she has made of the impact on the environment of this increase; what steps her Department is implementing to reverse this trend; and to what factors she attributes the increase. [191484]
Mr. Morley: Recent reports in the media have drawn attention to the anomalously high increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in 2003. This is the second year for which the increase has been unusually high.
Following consultation with scientists working in the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and elsewhere, we attribute the increases to three factors. These are greater emissions from forest fires, higher emissions from soils in areas where the climate was affected by the El Nino phenomenon in 2002, and acceleration in fossil fuel combustion in both years. In 2003 these factors together increased global emissions by an estimated 1 billion tonnes of carbon, or around 13 per cent. of the annual emissions in 2001.
Although the increases do not necessarily indicate a departure from the long term trend, they will add to the cumulative economic and environmental risks associated with climate change, which include increased risk of flooding, health impacts, impacts on water availability, and loss of ecosystems and biological species.The Government is taking action nationally and internationally to reverse the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere including the ambitious goals set out in the Climate Change Programme and the Energy White Paper, and the identification by the Prime Minister of climate change as one of two priorities for the UK's Presidency of the G8.
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EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Child Care
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the average cost of setting up a nursery in (a) London and (b) England. [192097]
Margaret Hodge: My Department has not made any estimate of the average cost of setting up a nursery. A range of factors give rise to considerable variation in costs including size of nursery, its location and size of the nursery provider. Under the neighbourhood nurseries initiative, £243 million of revenue funding from the Sure Start Unit has been made available to local authorities to support the development and delivery of 45,000 new, affordable childcare places in the 20 per cent. most disadvantaged wards. This will help to create new places in approximately 1,380 nurseries. Revenue funding of up to £5,400 for each new childcare place created is awarded from when the nursery opens and paid on a sliding scale over a rolling three year period. This means that a new 50-place nursery would receive a maximum of £270,000 set up costs over three years.
In addition, £128 million from the Big Lottery Fund (formerly the New Opportunities Fund) and the Sure Start Unit has also been made available for the capital costs of setting up these neighbourhood nurseries. £22.5 million of this capital has been made available to local authorities in London which will help to create 8,223 places in 237 nurseries ranging in size from six new places in an existing nursery up to 104 places in a new build project. Some of these projects involve building or refurbishing premises while other projects aim to create places in existing nursery settings. In many cases, neighbourhood nursery projects have also been able to take advantage of significant additional sources of capital funding from regeneration initiatives and other programmes. The capital costs incurred in setting up different neighbourhood nursery projects will therefore often vary widely.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new full day care places he expects will be created in children's centres in London by (a) April 2005 and (b) April 2006. [192099]
Margaret Hodge: We do not hold information for the number of new full day care places that will be created by April 2005; this is currently being collected and we expect these figures to be available early in the new year. The number of new full day care places that will be available by April 2006 is 3,554.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to monitor local authority funding of nursery education; and whether he plans to collate and publish that information. [192100]
Margaret Hodge:
From April 2003, local authorities (LAs) receive funding for nursery education through the under-fives sub-block of the Education Formula
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Spending Share (EFSS)—their main education budget. It is for individual LAs in consultation with local partners to determine how overall resources should be used.
All LAs received sufficient funding to enable them to meet their statutory responsibilities to provide free nursery education for three and four-year-olds. The overall EFSS under-fives sub-block in 2004–05 is worth some £2.6 billion.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to improve career progression for child care workers. [192103]
Margaret Hodge: We recognise the importance of a clear progression structure for child care workers and this is being addressed both in the 10-year child care strategy and in the wider pay and workforce strategy we are developing over the whole children's workforce. The strategy will contain action to make working with children a more attractive career option. Some of the issues covered will be the development of flexible career and training pathways, the development of a common core of skills and knowledge that promotes professionalism in different sectors and the establishment of a Children, Young People and Families Workforce Council which will represent the interests of the sector.
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) financial and (b) other support is available to private child care providers. [193078]
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Margaret Hodge: Sure Start funding of £1.2 billion has been made available to local authorities throughout England for 2004–06 to support early years services and create and sustain child care places. The money also funds business advice, guidance and support. Funding and other support is made available to maintained, private and voluntary sector providers. The amount of support going to the private sector is not recorded separately by central Government.
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places have been created in Carlisle since 1997. [191572]
Margaret Hodge: The Department is unable to provide details of child care places for Carlisle. However, between April 1999 to December 2003, my Department estimates that Cumbria local authority created 11,500 new child care places helping some 20,400 children. This shows an increase in stock child care places, taking into account turnover, of 8,000 helping some 14,400 children.
Class Sizes
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his estimate is of class sizes in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Somerset, (ii) Yeovil constituency and (iii) England in 1992–93 to 2004–05; and if he will make a statement. [192134]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is shown in the table. Figures for 1993 to 1996 are not available at parliamentary constituency level.
| Primary | Secondary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | Somerset local education authority | Yeovil parliamentary constituency | England | Somerset local education authority | Yeovil parliamentary constituency | |
| 1993 | 26.6 | 27.0 | (7)— | 20.9 | 21.5 | (7)— |
| 1994 | 26.9 | 26.9 | (7)— | 21.4 | 22.1 | (7)— |
| 1995 | 27.1 | 27.0 | (7)— | 21.5 | 22.5 | (7)— |
| 1996 | 27.3 | 27.3 | (7)— | 21.7 | 23.2 | (7)— |
| 1997 | 27.5 | 27.6 | 27.0 | 21.7 | 23.2 | 23.2 |
| 1998 | 27.7 | 27.8 | 27.6 | 21.8 | 23.9 | 24.2 |
| 1999 | 27.5 | 28.0 | 27.8 | 21.9 | 23.9 | 24.1 |
| 2000 | 27.1 | 27.6 | 27.7 | 22.0 | 23.6 | 24.8 |
| 2001 | 26.7 | 26.9 | 27.0 | 22.0 | 23.9 | 24.1 |
| 2002 | 26.3 | 26.0 | 25.9 | 21.9 | 23.5 | 23.1 |
| 2003 | 26.3 | 26.2 | 26.3 | 21.9 | 23.5 | 23.2 |
| 2004 | 26.2 | 26.1 | 25.8 | 21.8 | 23.6 | 24.4 |
(5) Includes middle schools as deemed.
(6) Classes as taught during the one selected period in each school on the day of the census in January . . . .
(7) Not available. Data by parliamentary constituency area is not available prior to 1997.
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