In the first Education Questions of 2012, Sharon used her question to press the Minister on the provision of out-of-school childcare, such as breakfast and homework clubs. Unfortunately, the Minister chose to talk about nursery care:

Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab): Hard-working parents are being hit by a triple whammy with regard to child care costs: they are getting less support to pay for it because of the cuts to tax credits; costs are creeping up; and places are disappearing because of cuts to local government and the removal of ring-fenced funding. What assessment have Ministers made of the impact of their choices on parental employment, especially among women, as well as on child poverty?

Sarah Teather: As I just said, substantial new money is going into early years. It is one of the few areas across Government where in fact—[ Interruption. ] It is two-year olds, but that extra money will of course benefit any of those settings that are working with two-year olds, and most of them will be working with two-year olds as well as older children. It is new money, particularly for disadvantaged areas that might not otherwise have taken two-year olds. I wish that the Labour party, instead of just carping, might sometimes congratulate the Government on putting extra money into disadvantaged areas.

As the Minister Sarah Teather failed to answer the question put to her, Sharon will be pursuing an answer by written question.

The exchange can be read on Hansard, or watched on Parliament TV.

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