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1719035

registered interest
date	17/05/2024
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 her Department is taking to encourage the take up of the newly introduced funded childcare.
tabling member constituency	Eastbourne
tabling member printed	Caroline Ansell
uin	26899
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>The department expects to provide over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 to facilitate the expansion of funded childcare and to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year overall on free hours and early education entitlements. This is the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever. As the childcare support is gradually rolled out, the department is encouraging consideration and take up through a parent facing campaign called Childcare Choices.</p><p> </p><p>The department is using a range of communications to drive users to the Childcare Choices website to find out more information about the different offers, check eligibility, sign up for updates and to apply. This has included a leaflet campaign distributed to over four million households across the country, as well as GP surgeries and supermarkets. The department has partnered with Peanut and Mumset to provide information on the available and expanded offers and directly communicated to parents through the Childcare Choices newsletter, which now has over 257,000 subscribers.</p><p> </p><p>This has resulted in over 210,000 childcare codes being validated for two year olds to benefit from 15 hours childcare from April 2024. The department is continuing to work with a range of partners to refine and disseminate messaging around the existing and new entitlements as it moves forward using a range of channels.</p><p> </p><p>The number of code validations will continue to grow, meaning even more working parents will have the option to have a family and a career, whilst also helping to grow the economy. The department continues to engage with local authorities and providers regarding the effective working of the code-based system.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 26900 question first answered 24/05/2024 12:56:16 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4512 label Biography information for Caroline Ansell

1719036

registered interest
date	17/05/2024
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, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the code-based system for accessing government-funded childcare to reduce the administrative burden on early years providers.
tabling member constituency	Eastbourne
tabling member printed	Caroline Ansell
uin	26900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>The department expects to provide over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 to facilitate the expansion of funded childcare and to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year overall on free hours and early education entitlements. This is the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever. As the childcare support is gradually rolled out, the department is encouraging consideration and take up through a parent facing campaign called Childcare Choices.</p><p> </p><p>The department is using a range of communications to drive users to the Childcare Choices website to find out more information about the different offers, check eligibility, sign up for updates and to apply. This has included a leaflet campaign distributed to over four million households across the country, as well as GP surgeries and supermarkets. The department has partnered with Peanut and Mumset to provide information on the available and expanded offers and directly communicated to parents through the Childcare Choices newsletter, which now has over 257,000 subscribers.</p><p> </p><p>This has resulted in over 210,000 childcare codes being validated for two year olds to benefit from 15 hours childcare from April 2024. The department is continuing to work with a range of partners to refine and disseminate messaging around the existing and new entitlements as it moves forward using a range of channels.</p><p> </p><p>The number of code validations will continue to grow, meaning even more working parents will have the option to have a family and a career, whilst also helping to grow the economy. The department continues to engage with local authorities and providers regarding the effective working of the code-based system.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 26899 question first answered 24/05/2024 12:56:16 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4512 label Biography information for Caroline Ansell

1718759

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
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 her Department is taking to help (a) improve the quality of and (b) increase the affordability of childcare in (i) Wandsworth and (ii) the UK.
tabling member constituency	Putney
tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
uin	26772
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The department is determined to support as many families as possible with access to high-quality, affordable childcare, which is why the 2023 Spring Budget announced significant new investments to expand the free early education entitlements from April 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The department is providing over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 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 using the fully-funded 30 hours up to £6,900 per year from when the child is nine months old until they are five years old by September next year.</p><p> </p><p>Already, over 200,000 two year olds are now confirmed to have places for 15 hours a week of free childcare, as part of the largest ever expansion of childcare in England. The take up nationwide for the validation codes already stands at 87.8%.</p><p>Funding will be key to delivering the existing and expanded childcare entitlements, so the department has substantially uplifted the hourly rate paid to local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers. In 2024/25 alone, the department expects to provide over £1.7 billion to support local authorities and providers deliver the expansion to the early years entitlements. This is on top of over £400 million additional funding to deliver a significant uplift to the hourly rate paid to local authorities for the entitlements. The rates for the new entitlements have been independently confirmed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies to be well above market rates. For 2024/25, the department’s hourly funding rates for Wandsworth are: £15.21 for under twos, £11.17 for two year olds and £7.72 for three to four year olds.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, to ensure local authorities are fully supported in delivering the new entitlements, the department is funding local authorities an additional four weeks in 2024/25, at an estimated cost of £120 million, for the under twos working parent entitlement starting in September 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The quality of early years provision is a priority for the department. Evidence shows that high-quality early childhood education and care has a positive impact on children’s outcomes in the short and long term, particularly for the most disadvantaged children. Additionally, the department has invested up to £180 million in providing an early years education recovery package of workforce training, qualifications and support and guidance for the early years sector. This includes:</p><ul><li>Additional places for early years initial teacher training.</li><li>New level 3 qualifications criteria for early years educators to ensure higher-quality training and better care for children, which will come into effect from September 2024.</li></ul><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 to 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> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 23/05/2024 16:52:02 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1717709

registered interest
date	13/05/2024
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 assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of access to 15 hours of government-funded childcare support by (a) single and (b) disabled parent families.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham East
tabling member printed	Janet Daby
uin	25978
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>Working parent entitlements are aimed at supporting parents to get back into work, or to work more hours if they wish to. This is available to both two parent families and single parent families who meet the eligibility criteria.</p><p> </p><p>The department is expanding the free childcare offer from September 2025 to enable eligible working parents in England to access 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks per year from the term after their child turns 9 months old to when they start school.</p><p> </p><p>Since April 2024, eligible working parents of two year olds have been able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week over 38 weeks of the year from the term after the child’s second birthday. Over 210,000 two year olds are now confirmed to have places for 15 hours a week of free childcare, as part of the largest ever expansion of childcare in England. Applications are now open for the September phase of the expansion, which will see the offer extended to eligible working parents of children aged from 9 months.</p><p> </p><p>The income eligibility criteria are applied on a per parent basis, so working parents who individually earn more than £9,518 but less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year will be eligible. For families with two parents, both must be working to meet the criteria, unless one is receiving certain benefits such as carers allowance, incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance. Single parents in receipt of specified benefits will also need to be working and meet the income requirements in order to be eligible for the working parent entitlement.</p><p> </p><p>Parents who claim Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment for themselves or their child may be eligible for this entitlement, if they are working and meet the income requirement. More information is available at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/check-eligible-free-childcare-if-youre-working" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/check-eligible-free-childcare-if-youre-working</a>.</p><p> </p><p>However, parents who are already receiving some additional forms of government support can receive 15 hours of funded early education, including childcare, for two year olds. This is separate from the new entitlement for working parents and is available to parents whose child is entitled to Disability Living Allowance. All parents regardless of employment status or income levels are eligible for the universal 15 hours for three and four year olds.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 25979 question first answered 21/05/2024 11:49:32 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4698 label Biography information for Janet Daby

1717710

registered interest
date	13/05/2024
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 increase access to 15 hours of childcare support for (a) single and (b) disabled parent families.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham East
tabling member printed	Janet Daby
uin	25979
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>Working parent entitlements are aimed at supporting parents to get back into work, or to work more hours if they wish to. This is available to both two parent families and single parent families who meet the eligibility criteria.</p><p> </p><p>The department is expanding the free childcare offer from September 2025 to enable eligible working parents in England to access 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks per year from the term after their child turns 9 months old to when they start school.</p><p> </p><p>Since April 2024, eligible working parents of two year olds have been able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week over 38 weeks of the year from the term after the child’s second birthday. Over 210,000 two year olds are now confirmed to have places for 15 hours a week of free childcare, as part of the largest ever expansion of childcare in England. Applications are now open for the September phase of the expansion, which will see the offer extended to eligible working parents of children aged from 9 months.</p><p> </p><p>The income eligibility criteria are applied on a per parent basis, so working parents who individually earn more than £9,518 but less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year will be eligible. For families with two parents, both must be working to meet the criteria, unless one is receiving certain benefits such as carers allowance, incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance. Single parents in receipt of specified benefits will also need to be working and meet the income requirements in order to be eligible for the working parent entitlement.</p><p> </p><p>Parents who claim Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment for themselves or their child may be eligible for this entitlement, if they are working and meet the income requirement. More information is available at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/check-eligible-free-childcare-if-youre-working" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/check-eligible-free-childcare-if-youre-working</a>.</p><p> </p><p>However, parents who are already receiving some additional forms of government support can receive 15 hours of funded early education, including childcare, for two year olds. This is separate from the new entitlement for working parents and is available to parents whose child is entitled to Disability Living Allowance. All parents regardless of employment status or income levels are eligible for the universal 15 hours for three and four year olds.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 25978 question first answered 21/05/2024 11:49:32 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4698 label Biography information for Janet Daby

1715743

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make provision in England which is similar to the Childcare Offer for Wales, and whether they have had discussions with the Welsh Government in that regard.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Llanfaes
uin	HL4361
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2024 answer text <p>Through the English government’s transformative childcare reforms, the department will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.  The childcare expansion is being rolled out in phases, with over 210,000 children now benefitting since the launch of the first phase in April. The next stage in September 2024 will extend this to children aged from 9 months. By September 2025, eligible working parents will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare from the term after their child turns 9-months-old to when they start school.</p><p> </p><p>As such, there are currently no plans to introduce the Welsh style childcare provision in England. Education and the entitlement to free childcare for pre-school children in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Assembly. We engage routinely with the Welsh government and other devolved administrations at ministerial and official levels to learn from each other to improve early years outcomes across the UK.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 17/05/2024 13:56:46 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	5023 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Llanfaes

1714635

registered interest
date	29/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to ensure their targets for additional childcare provision are met for September 2024 and September 2025, given the National Audit Office report into early years entitlements published on 24 April.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL4190
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>This government exceeded expectations for the first stage of the rollout to working parents of two year olds in April, with over 210,000 children accessing funded places to date, and all local authorities confirming that they are able to meet parental demand.</p><p>The department is confident that parental demand will be met for the next steps of the rollout, as it was in April.</p><p>The department has a number of interventions in place to support local authorities to deliver for September 2024 and September 2025, including £12 million delivery support funding and support through the department’s delivery support contractor, Childcare Works.</p><p>The department is also taking action to support the childcare market to expand to meet estimated demand from September 2024 and September 2025. This includes significantly increasing rates paid to providers for government funded hours and confirming an additional £500 million to provide certainty that rates will increase in line with cost pressures in the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years. The department has also launched a nationwide recruitment campaign, introduced a package of flexibilities to help manage staffing pressures, and allocated £100 million of capital investment to increase physical space in nurseries and other childcare settings.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 14/05/2024 11:56:02 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1714772

registered interest
date	29/04/2024
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, how the (a) number and (b) percentage of (i) private, (ii) voluntary and (iii) independent childcare providers has changed since March 2023.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	24022
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>The number of private, voluntary and independent providers that are registered on the Early Years Register as of 31 March 2023 was 22,691.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data for December 2023 shows that the number of private, voluntary and independent providers that are registered on the Early Years Register was 22,490, which is 201 less than in March 2023, and a percentage change of 0.9%.</p><p> </p><p>The department has not made a forecast estimation of the likely proportionate change in providers by September 2024 or September 2025.</p><p> </p><p>It is important to note however that this is not an accurate measure of capacity in the sector. The latest Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey (2023) shows that the number of Early Years places has increased by 40,000 in 2023 compared with 2018. At the same time, the total population of 0 to 5 year olds has declined by 1% per year every year from 2018 to 2022, according to the latest available Office for National Statistics data.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 24023 question first answered 10/05/2024 16:02:22 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1714773

registered interest
date	29/04/2024
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 she has made of the likely proportionate change in childcare providers that are (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) independent providers by September (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	24023
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>The number of private, voluntary and independent providers that are registered on the Early Years Register as of 31 March 2023 was 22,691.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data for December 2023 shows that the number of private, voluntary and independent providers that are registered on the Early Years Register was 22,490, which is 201 less than in March 2023, and a percentage change of 0.9%.</p><p> </p><p>The department has not made a forecast estimation of the likely proportionate change in providers by September 2024 or September 2025.</p><p> </p><p>It is important to note however that this is not an accurate measure of capacity in the sector. The latest Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey (2023) shows that the number of Early Years places has increased by 40,000 in 2023 compared with 2018. At the same time, the total population of 0 to 5 year olds has declined by 1% per year every year from 2018 to 2022, according to the latest available Office for National Statistics data.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 24022 question first answered 10/05/2024 16:02:22 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

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