|
answer text |
<p>The government continues to support families with their childcare costs. My right
hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced at the Spending Review a further
£44 million investment in the 2021/22 financial year for local authorities to increase
hourly rates paid to childcare providers for the government’s free childcare entitlement
offers.</p><p>In the 2021/22 financial year, we will increase the hourly funding rates
for all local authorities by 8p an hour for the entitlement for 2 year olds and, for
the vast majority of areas, by 6p an hour for the entitlement for 3 year olds and
4 year olds. This will pay for a rate increase that is higher than the costs nurseries
may face from the uplift to the national living wage in April 2021.</p><p>During the
COVID-19 outbreak, early years settings also have access to a range of business support
packages including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Attendance at childcare has
been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, but we saw attendance rise over the autumn
term.</p><p>The Department for Education carries out its own regular research on the
cost of delivering childcare. The 2019 provider finances report is published here:
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providers-finances-survey-of-childcare-and-ey-providers-2019"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providers-finances-survey-of-childcare-and-ey-providers-2019</a>.</p><p>The
provider finances report includes data on the following:</p><ul><li>total cost and
total income of delivering childcare</li><li>variation in unit costs (an approximate
measure of the average cost per child per hour for all children in the setting) and
staff hourly pay</li><li>patterns in parent-paid hourly fees and additional charges
for parents</li></ul><p>The 2019 survey of childcare and early years providers also
includes information on the costs of providing childcare: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2019"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2019</a>.</p>
|
|