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1714044

	registered interest
	date	26/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Audit Office's report entitled Preparations to extend early years entitlements for working parents in England, published on 24 April 2024, what steps she is taking to deliver the additional childcare places needed.
	tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
	tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
	uin	23850
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>In 2010 there was only 12.5 hours of childcare support for some families with 3 and 4-year-olds. This government has already significantly expanded that support, to 30 hours free childcare for working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds.</p><p>The department is now going further, making the largest investment in childcare in England’s history.</p><p>The rates for the new entitlements have been independently confirmed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) to be well above market rates. The department is investing hundreds of millions of pounds to increase hourly funding rates and has allocated £100 million in capital funding for more early years (EY) and wrapround places and spaces.</p><p>The department has also launched a range of new workforce initiatives to boost EY staff numbers. The department’s recruitment campaign <strong>‘</strong>Do something BIG. Work with small children’ is backed by £6.5 million and is raising the status of EY to boost the recruitment of talented staff.</p><p>On top of this, in order to further boost the workforce, the department has invited 20 local authorities to take part in a £4.9 million pilot to test whether financial incentives in EY would help boost recruitment in the same way it has for teachers. Up to 3,000 eligible joiners and returners to the workforce will receive a £1,000 tax-free cash payment, shortly after they take up the post. This is as well as an investment of £7.2 million to deliver Skills Bootcamps for Early Years which enables learners to progress on an accelerated Level 3 Early Years Apprenticeship. This builds on previous growth in the market. The total number of paid childcare staff increased by 12,900 (or 4%) from 334,400 in 2022 to 347,300 in 2023, and the overall number of places increased by 15,100 (or 1%) over the same period.</p><p>It is important to note that Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about the sufficiency of childcare in their area including their work to support the EY workforce recruitment and retention. No local authorities have reported to the department that they do not have sufficient childcare places.</p><p>The department continues to monitor the recruitment of EY staff alongside the sufficiency of childcare provision and are committed to continuing to work with the sector understand how it can further support EY workforce recruitment and retention.</p><p>The department already has significant support in place for disadvantaged families.</p><p>In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1629 for two children.</p><p>The department already funds 15 hours of free early education a week for disadvantaged 2-year-olds and children with an education, health and care plan or a Statement of Special Educational Needs.</p><p>Over 1.2 million disadvantaged 2-year-olds have benefitted from 15 hours early education and care entitlement since the entitlement began in September 2013. 74%, or 124,200, of eligible children were taking up the 2-year-old entitlement for the most disadvantaged children, which is an increase in the take up rates from 72%, or 135,400, in January 2022.</p><p>The department also supports the most disadvantaged by investing in high quality early education, family hubs and local services, and by helping parents to support their child’s early language development at home.</p><p>It is important that local authorities reflect deprivation within their local funding approach. To support this, we have introduced a requirement for local authorities to ensure that the final funding rate they pay to providers for the disadvantaged 2-year-old entitlement is at least equivalent to the final rate for the 2-year-old working parent entitlement.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 23851 23852 question first answered 07/05/2024 16:51:13 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1713591

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Audit Office's value for money report entitled Preparations to extend early years entitlements for working parents in England on the expansion of government funded childcare, published on 24 April 2024, which local authorities she estimates will need to increase their childcare hours by 20% or more by September 2025.
	tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
	tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
	uin	23464
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>As the National Audit Office (NAO) recently reported, the department has developed a model to estimate supply and demand nationally and locally. This allows the department to estimate the required increases in early years hours to meet demand for key delivery milestones.</p><p> </p><p>The regional differences are illustrated in Figure 11 of the NAO report. Further detail of this analysis has not been published. It has been shared directly with local authorities to use alongside their local intelligence and support local sufficiency assessments.</p><p> </p><p>The supply and demand model is updated regularly with the latest data, including as more parents apply for eligibility codes and the department has an improved understanding of local demand.</p><p> </p><p>The indicative output of this supply and demand modelling is only one factor the department takes into account when judging the scale of the challenge a local authority faces. The department also accounts for the local authorities own assessment of supply and demand and their responses to the departments readiness assessments.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 02/05/2024 16:55:20 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1713592

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to para 3.11 of the National Audit Office's value for money report entitled Preparations to extend early years entitlements for working parents in England on the expansion of government funded childcare, published on 24 April 2024, what indicators she plans to use to track progress of the childcare roll-out; and what criteria would need to be met for her Department to change its assessment of the likelihood of meeting the September (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 phases of the roll-out.
	tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
	tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
	uin	23465
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>Key Performance Indicators will be used to measure delivery performance against a range of objectives including:</p><ul><li>More families accessing government funded childcare and an increase in the numbers of staff and places in the sector.</li></ul><p> </p><p>In the lead up to the April 2024 delivery milestone the department saw these indicators improve, with over 200,000 children finding places and no reports of insufficiency from local authorities. The department would expect to see a similar results in the lead up to September 2024 and September 2025.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 02/05/2024 16:57:49 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1713164

	registered interest
	date	23/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral statement of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education of 23 April 2023 on Childcare Entitlements, Official Report, for what reason the statement was made (a) before the publication of a National Audit Office (NAO) on that matter and (b) while the NAO report was under embargo.
	tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
	tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
	uin	23185
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2024 answer text <p>This government’s plan to support hard working families is working. The department are making the largest ever investment in childcare in England’s history. By September 2025, when the new entitlements are fully rolled out, working families will on average save £6,900 with 30 hours free childcare from when their child is 9 months old until they start school.</p><p> </p><p>The roll out has already been successful, with the government exceeding its targets for the April roll out of the first 15 hours for two year olds. As the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing set out in a statement to the house yesterday, and as acknowledged by the National Audit Office report, parents of over 195,000 two year olds are now benefitting from this government’s new and historic childcare offer.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 26/04/2024 12:30:26 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1712761

	registered interest
	date	22/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of parents (a) with two year olds who are eligible for 15 hours of childcare support and (b) who have had codes validated by providers and are receiving their entitlement in each local authority area.
	tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
	tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
	uin	22934
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>This government’s plan to support hard working families is working. The department are making the largest ever investment in childcare in England’s history. By September 2025, when the new entitlements are fully rolled out, working families will on average save £6,900 per year if they use the full 30 hours free childcare from when their child is 9 months old until they start school.</p><p> </p><p>Our roll-out has already been successful, with the government exceeding its target for the April roll out of the first 15 hours for two year olds.</p><p> </p><p>The department’s estimates focus on numbers of children, rather than parents. The department estimates that there are around 285,000 two year olds eligible for 15 hours of childcare support.</p><p> </p><p>As per my statement on 23 April, more than 200,000 are already benefitting from the first stage of the expansion. The department will be publishing data by local authorities in due course.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 25/04/2024 17:06:03 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1702171

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there will be any new funding for local authorities to deliver 15 hours of free childcare.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North East
	tabling member printed	Fabian Hamilton
	uin	22479
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is delivering the largest expansion of childcare in England’s history. By the 2027/28 financial year, this government expects to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year, double what it currently does on childcare, on free hours and early education to help working families with their childcare costs.</p><p> </p><p>The department has provided local authorities with £12 million of delivery support funding in the 2023/24 financial year to help them plan and prepare for the entitlement’s expansion, as well as £100 million of capital funding to help expand or refurbish facilities.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 24/04/2024 16:16:38 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	415 label Biography information for Fabian Hamilton

1701453

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure the availability of childcare (a) before and (b) after school.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	22070
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>The government is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme to support local authorities in England to work with primary schools and providers to set up and deliver more wraparound childcare before and after school in the term time. The government’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to be able to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm by September 2026. This will help to ensure that parents have enough childcare to work full time, more hours and with flexible hours.</p><p> </p><p>In October 2023, the department published guidance for local authorities on their role to support the expansion of wraparound childcare along with local authority funding allocations. This guidance can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wraparound-childcare-guidance-for-local-authorities" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wraparound-childcare-guidance-for-local-authorities</a>. In February 2024, the department also published guidance for schools and trusts setting out the expectations of schools in supporting parents to access wraparound childcare. This guidance can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wraparound-childcare-guidance-for-schools/responding-to-requests-for-wraparound-childcare" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wraparound-childcare-guidance-for-schools/responding-to-requests-for-wraparound-childcare</a>.</p><p> </p><p>This month, the local authorities of Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Kensington and Chelsea, Norfolk and Westminster will be rolling out expanded wraparound provision, five months ahead of the national programme launch in September. These local authorities are forming part of a test and learn phase as ‘early adopters’ to strengthen the delivery of the full rollout.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 23/04/2024 13:34:54 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1701454

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure the availability of childcare placements in school holidays.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	22071
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. This included £289 million to support the expansion of wraparound childcare for primary school-aged children. By 2026, all parents and carers of primary school-aged children, who need it, will be able to access term time wraparound childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm.</p><p>Since 2021, the department has provided more than £200 million of funding per year to local authorities across England, who take responsibility for the provision of the Holidays Activities and Food programme (HAF) in their area.</p><p>The HAF programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their heath, wellbeing and learning.</p><p>School holidays can be particular pressure points for some families because of increased costs, such as food and childcare, and reduced incomes. For some children that can lead to a holiday experience gap, with children from disadvantaged families less likely to access organised out-of-school activities, more likely to experience ‘unhealthy holidays’ in terms of nutrition and physical health and are more likely to experience social isolation.</p><p>Free holiday clubs are a response to this issue and evidence suggests that they can have a positive impact on children and young people. It also shows they work best when they provide consistent and easily accessible enrichment activities, when they offer more than just breakfast or lunch, and when they involve children and parents in food preparation.</p><p>Local authorities are responsible for understanding the needs of the children and families in their area and ensuring that the programme reaches those who need it.</p><p>While the majority of funding that local authorities receive should be used for holiday club places for children in receipt of free school meals (FSM), local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision.</p><p>In deciding which children should benefit from the 15% flexible funding, local authorities are asked to ensure that these places are aligned to their local priorities.</p><p>A number of local authorities across England have secured additional funding or resources that has allowed them to expand the reach of their programme.</p><p>The HAF programme is delivered during longer school holidays, Easter, summer and the Christmas break, in all 153 local authorities in England.</p><p>Since 2022, the HAF programme has provided 11.3 million HAF days to children and young people in this country. Across 2023, a total of 5.3 million HAF days were provided during Easter, summer and winter delivery.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 24/04/2024 15:59:18 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1701587

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure childcare provision is available for (a) night workers and (b) shift workers working anti-social hours.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	22072
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is providing over £4.1 billion by the 2027/28 financial year to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for working parents with children aged nine months to three years in England. This will remove one of the biggest barriers to parents working by vastly increasing the amount of free childcare that working families can access. This is set to save working families who use the full 30 funded hours up to £6,900 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September next year.</p><p> </p><p>Already, hundreds of thousands of children aged three and four are registered for a 30-hour place, which can save eligible working parents up to £6,000 per child per year. Expanding this entitlement will help even more eligible working parents with the cost of childcare and make a real difference to the lives of those families.</p><p> </p><p>To be eligible for the expanded 30 hours entitlement, as with the current 30 hours offer, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or living wage, which is £183 per week or £9,518 per year in 2024-2025, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. For families with two parents, both must be working to meet the criteria, unless one is receiving certain benefits. In a single-parent household, the single parent must meet the threshold. This offer aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours, if they wish.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1629 for two children.</p><p> </p><p>Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children. This can save parents up to £2,000 per year, or up to £4,000 for eligible children with disabilities and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare.</p><p>The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare and government funding schemes are designed to be flexible enough to support families’ different situations, including parents who are night workers and shift workers.</p><p> </p><p>The government is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme. The government’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to be able to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm. Parents will still be expected to pay to access this provision but support will be available to eligible parents through Universal Credit childcare and Tax Free Childcare.</p><p> </p><p>Parents should expect to see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needs it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026. The department is also providing over £200 million a year for the continuation of the Holiday Activities and Food programme and the department is investing a transformational £560 million in youth services in England over the next three years. This is part of a wider package the government has provided long term to support young people facing the greatest challenges.</p><p> </p><p>The department will also continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that both the number of places available and the workforce has increased since 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.</p><p> </p><p>The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 22069 22073 question first answered 24/04/2024 15:22:34 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1701588

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure the affordability of anti-social hours' childcare.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	22073
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is providing over £4.1 billion by the 2027/28 financial year to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for working parents with children aged nine months to three years in England. This will remove one of the biggest barriers to parents working by vastly increasing the amount of free childcare that working families can access. This is set to save working families who use the full 30 funded hours up to £6,900 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September next year.</p><p> </p><p>Already, hundreds of thousands of children aged three and four are registered for a 30-hour place, which can save eligible working parents up to £6,000 per child per year. Expanding this entitlement will help even more eligible working parents with the cost of childcare and make a real difference to the lives of those families.</p><p> </p><p>To be eligible for the expanded 30 hours entitlement, as with the current 30 hours offer, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or living wage, which is £183 per week or £9,518 per year in 2024-2025, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. For families with two parents, both must be working to meet the criteria, unless one is receiving certain benefits. In a single-parent household, the single parent must meet the threshold. This offer aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours, if they wish.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1629 for two children.</p><p> </p><p>Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children. This can save parents up to £2,000 per year, or up to £4,000 for eligible children with disabilities and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare.</p><p>The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare and government funding schemes are designed to be flexible enough to support families’ different situations, including parents who are night workers and shift workers.</p><p> </p><p>The government is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme. The government’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to be able to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm. Parents will still be expected to pay to access this provision but support will be available to eligible parents through Universal Credit childcare and Tax Free Childcare.</p><p> </p><p>Parents should expect to see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needs it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026. The department is also providing over £200 million a year for the continuation of the Holiday Activities and Food programme and the department is investing a transformational £560 million in youth services in England over the next three years. This is part of a wider package the government has provided long term to support young people facing the greatest challenges.</p><p> </p><p>The department will also continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that both the number of places available and the workforce has increased since 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.</p><p> </p><p>The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 22069 22072 question first answered 24/04/2024 15:22:34 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell