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<p><del class="ministerial">In the Spending Review 2021 and the written ministerial
statement of 25 November 2021, the department stated that investments in the upcoming
financial years of 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 will be made individually and proportionately
to the current financial year 2021-22. Investments will reflect anticipated cost pressures
such as inflation, and changes in the number of children in these schemes as forecast
at the time of the Spending Review.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">In the Spending
Review 2021, and the written ministerial statement of 25 November 2021, the department
stated that increases in investments in the upcoming financial years of 2022-23, 2023-24,
and 2024-25 are all presented individually in comparison to the current financial
year 2021-22. This investment reflects anticipated cost pressures and changes in the
number of eligible children, as forecast at the time of the Spending Review.</ins></p><p>For
the financial year 2022-23, the government is increasing the hourly funding rates
for all local authorities by 21p an hour for the two-year-old entitlement and, for
most areas, by 17p an hour for the three and four-year-old entitlements.</p><p><del
class="ministerial">Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) forecasts a
decrease in the number of children in these entitlement schemes across the financial
year 2022-23. The ONS projects a decrease in the 0 to 4-year-old population of around
5% from mid-2022 to mid-2025. Consideration of this information can provide an accurate
picture of what the funding settlement entails.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Data
from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) projects a decrease in the 0- to 4-year-old
population of around 5% from mid-2022 to mid-2025. Consideration of this information
can provide an accurate picture of what the funding settlement entails.</ins></p><p>Announcement
of the local authorities’ early years funding rates for the 2023-24 financial year
will be made <del class="ministerial">in</del> <ins class="ministerial">next </ins>autumn<del
class="ministerial"> 2022</del>, and in the following autumn for the financial year
2024-25, ahead of local authorities commencing business planning rounds for these
financial years.</p>
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