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<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. Further, at the 2024 Spring Budget the department committed to increasing the
national average hourly funding rate to deliver the entitlements in line with the
metric used at Spring Budget 2023, in the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years to reflect
key cost providers face, at an estimated £500 million of additional investment over
the two financial years, based on current forecast.</p><p>The department expects to
provide over £4.1 billion by the 2027/28 financial year to facilitate the expansion
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.</p><p>In 2024/25 alone, the department expects to provide over £1.7 billion
to support local authorities and providers to deliver the expansion. On top of this,
the department is increasing the 2024/25 hourly rates to local authorities for the
existing and new entitlements by over £400 million.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure local
authorities are fully supported in delivering the new entitlements, the department
is funding local authorities an additional four weeks in the 2024/25 financial year,
at an estimated cost of £120 million, for the under 2s working parent entitlement
starting in September 2024.</p><p> </p><p>Indicative funding allocations for individual
local authorities for 2024/25 were published in December 2023 and can be found at:
<a href="https://skillsfunding.service.gov.uk/view-latest-funding/national-funding-allocations/DSG/2024-to-2025"
target="_blank">https://skillsfunding.service.gov.uk/view-latest-funding/national-funding-allocations/DSG/2024-to-2025</a>.
Funding allocations for local authorities for 2025/26 will be announced in the autumn.</p><p>
</p><p>The department’s statutory guidance for local authorities sets out that government
funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week (for 38 weeks of the year) of
free, high-quality, flexible childcare. The guidance can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2</a>.</p><p>The
funding should cover the cost, including core business costs, of delivering this provision.
The funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables, such as
nappies and sun cream, additional hours or additional services, such as trips and
specialist tuition. However, as set out in paragraph A1.33 of the guidance, such charges
for consumables or additional services should not be made a condition of accessing
a free place. The statutory guidance for local authorities also specifies that local
authorities ensure that providers do not charge parents top-up fees or require parents
to pay a registration fee as a condition of taking up their child’s place. Providers
who choose to offer the free entitlements are responsible for setting their own policy
on providing parents with options for alternatives to additional charges, including
allowing parents to supply their own meals or nappies, or waiving or reducing the
cost of meals and snacks.</p>
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