Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many nursery places were available in (a) North Yorkshire and (b) Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency in each year since 2010.

I have asked Ofsted to respond using the data they hold on registered nursery places. Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, will write to the hon. Gentleman, and a copy of his response will be placed in the House Library. Some providers, such as schools with nursery provision for children aged three or over, are exempt from registration. The number of places therefore may not include the full range of early years provision available in the area.

The Department for Education’s Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey[1] collects data on all registered childcare places, including those in maintained schools and nurseries. These figures are therefore more comprehensive than the Ofsted figures; however data is only available at a national and regional level and in this case only for the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2011