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8 Jan 2008 : Column 406W—continued
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what forecast he has made of the number of child care places available in each year to 2011, broken down by region; [176688]
(2) what forecast he has made of the average number of hours of child care that will be taken up by a family using child care in each of the next 10 years, broken down by (a) income decile, (b) ethnicity and (c) region. [176693]
Beverley Hughes: Section 11 of the Childcare Act 2006, which came into force in April 2007, placed a duty on local authorities to complete a child care sufficiency assessment before April 2008. They will have to complete an assessment at least every three years, and keep it under review between assessments, especially where there are key demographic changes or as new data become available.
The assessment process will give local authorities the evidence and information they need to facilitate and shape a child care market that is flexible, sustainable and responsive to parents’ needs. It will also help local authorities to develop their strategies for meeting the new duty to secure sufficient child care which will start in April 2008.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of (a) one and (b) two parent families taking up child care places in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) income decile, (ii) ethnicity, (iii) region and (iv) family size. [176690]
Beverley Hughes: Estimates of the proportion of one and two parent families taking up child care places in the last year by household income, ethnic group, region and family size are available from the 2004 Parents' Childcare Survey(1) and these figures are provided in the following table. Estimates in this form are not available for earlier years.
(1) Childcare and Early Years Provision: A Study of Parents' Use, Views and Experiences, Research Report 723; DfES. Bryson, C., Kazimirski, A. and Southwood, H. (2006). This report is available at:
| Proportion of lone parents and couples that used child care in the last year by household income, ethnicity, region and family size | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Couples | Lone parents | |
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what forecast he has made of the number of (a) one and (b) two parent families taking up child care places in each quarter in each of the next 10 years, broken down by (i) income decile, (ii) ethnicity and (iii) region, (iv) family size. [176691]
Beverley Hughes: Section 11 of the Childcare Act 2006, which came into force in April 2007, placed a duty on local authorities to complete a child care sufficiency assessment before April 2008. They will have to complete an assessment at least every three years, and keep it under review between assessments, especially where there are key demographic changes or as new data become available.
The assessment process will give local authorities the evidence and information they need to facilitate and shape a child care market that is flexible, sustainable and responsive to parents' needs. It will also help local authorities to develop their strategies for meeting the new duty to secure sufficient child care which will start in April 2008.
Estimates of the proportion of one and two parent families taking up child care places in 2004 by
household income, ethnic group, region and family size are available from the 2004 Parents' Childcare Survey(1) and these figures are provided in the following table.
(1) Childcare and Early Years Provision: A Study of Parents' Use, Views and Experiences, Research Report 723; DfES. Bryson, C., Kazimirski, A. and Southwood, H. (2006). This report is available at:
| Proportion of lone parents and couples that used child care in the last year by household income, ethnicity, region and family size | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Couples | Lone parents | |
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many hours of child care on average a family using child care received in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) income decile, (b) ethnicity and (c) region. [176692]
Beverley Hughes: The Parents' Childcare Survey collects information on hours of child care used by all children in the family in the last week. Details about number of hours of child care used in the last year are not collected as this would place too great a burden on respondents.
The 2004 Parents' Childcare Survey(1) estimated that on average each family using child care used 26 hours of child care in the week before their interview.
The average number of hours of child care used in the last week by household income, ethnic group and region is shown in the following table. Income deciles cannot be calculated as the income data are collected in bands rather than actual amounts.
Estimates in this form are not available for earlier years.
(1) Childcare and Early Years Provision: A Study of Parents' Use, Views and Experiences, Research Report 723; DfES. Bryson, C., Kazimirski, A. and Southwood, H. (2006). This report is available at:
| Average hours of child care used in the last week, among all families using child care, by household income, ethnicity and region | |
| Mean hours of childcare used | |
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the average cost of an hour of child care from an Ofsted registered provider, broken down by region. [176694]
Beverley Hughes: Data on the average hourly costs of child care from Ofsted registered providers are collected as part of the Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey. The following table shows the estimated average hourly fees charged by Ofsted registered childcare providers by region, based on the 2006 childcare and early years providers survey.
| Average hourly fees charged by region | |||||
| Full day care | Sessional | After school clubs | Holiday clubs | Childminders | |
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