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1490670

registered interest
date	19/07/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the average annual costs to Government of (a) tax free childcare, (b) the universal 15 free hours entitlement, (c) the extended 30 hours entitlement, (d) the childcare support element of universal credit, (e) employer supported vouchers and (f) other expenditure on childcare.
tabling member constituency	Harborough
tabling member printed	Neil O'Brien
uin	39980
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2022 answer text <p>An estimated 1.3 million families are eligible for Tax Free Childcare (TFC). The TFC Official Statistics show that 384,000 families (30%) used TFC in March 2022. 512,000 families (39%) used TFC at some point in 2021-22. TFC spend for the financial year 2021-22 was £411.3 million.</p><p>In 2022-23, the Department for Education is planning to spend approximately £2.3 million for the universal entitlement for all three and four year olds, and approximately £900 million for the extended entitlement for working parents of three and four year olds (also known as 30 hours free childcare). The Department for Education is also planning to spend approximately £400 million for the 15 hours free early education entitlement for disadvantaged two year olds, approximately £52 million on supplementary funding for Maintained Nursery Schools, approximately £39 million for Early Years Pupil Premium, and approximately £18 million for the Disability Access Fund.</p><p>In January 2022, 92% of all three and four year olds were receiving some form of funded early education (1.2 million children in total), and 384,100 eligible three and four year olds were registered for a 30 hours place in January 2022.</p><p>In the latest month for which data is available (February 2022) 119,900 Universal Credit (UC) households were paid the UC childcare cost element. Overall, 13% of households on UC with all parents earning and children aged between 0 to 16 were paid the childcare element in February 2022. Spending on the Universal Credit childcare element is calculated as part of the total Universal Credit spend and separate figures are not available.</p><p>There were an estimated 470,000 recipients of all forms of Employer Supported childcare in 2021-22. There is no estimate of the eligible population. Spend on all forms of Employer Supported childcare is estimated to be £460 million in 2020-21 and forecast to be £340m in 2021-22. Employer Supported Childcare is closed to new entrants.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Alan Mak grouped question UIN 39981 question first answered 25/07/2022 09:09:28 answering member 4484 label Biography information for Alan Mak
tabling member	4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien

1490671

registered interest
date	19/07/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the take-up, as a proportion of eligibility, of (a) tax-free childcare, (b) the universal entitlement to 15 hours of free childcare, (c) the extended entitlement to 30 hours of free childcare, (d) the childcare element of universal credit and (e) employer supported childcare vouchers.
tabling member constituency	Harborough
tabling member printed	Neil O'Brien
uin	39981
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2022 answer text <p>An estimated 1.3 million families are eligible for Tax Free Childcare (TFC). The TFC Official Statistics show that 384,000 families (30%) used TFC in March 2022. 512,000 families (39%) used TFC at some point in 2021-22. TFC spend for the financial year 2021-22 was £411.3 million.</p><p>In 2022-23, the Department for Education is planning to spend approximately £2.3 million for the universal entitlement for all three and four year olds, and approximately £900 million for the extended entitlement for working parents of three and four year olds (also known as 30 hours free childcare). The Department for Education is also planning to spend approximately £400 million for the 15 hours free early education entitlement for disadvantaged two year olds, approximately £52 million on supplementary funding for Maintained Nursery Schools, approximately £39 million for Early Years Pupil Premium, and approximately £18 million for the Disability Access Fund.</p><p>In January 2022, 92% of all three and four year olds were receiving some form of funded early education (1.2 million children in total), and 384,100 eligible three and four year olds were registered for a 30 hours place in January 2022.</p><p>In the latest month for which data is available (February 2022) 119,900 Universal Credit (UC) households were paid the UC childcare cost element. Overall, 13% of households on UC with all parents earning and children aged between 0 to 16 were paid the childcare element in February 2022. Spending on the Universal Credit childcare element is calculated as part of the total Universal Credit spend and separate figures are not available.</p><p>There were an estimated 470,000 recipients of all forms of Employer Supported childcare in 2021-22. There is no estimate of the eligible population. Spend on all forms of Employer Supported childcare is estimated to be £460 million in 2020-21 and forecast to be £340m in 2021-22. Employer Supported Childcare is closed to new entrants.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Alan Mak grouped question UIN 39980 question first answered 25/07/2022 09:09:29 answering member 4484 label Biography information for Alan Mak
tabling member	4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien

1487400

registered interest
date	07/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2022 to Question 25945 on Children: Day Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increasing childcare ratios on levels of childcare staff (a) recruitment and (b) retention.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	32585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2022 answer text <p>On 4 July 2022, the government published its consultation on moving to the Scottish ratios for two-year-olds, from a ratio of 1:4 (one adult to four children) to 1:5 (one adult to five children). Alongside this, the department is running a bespoke survey of providers to help us understand how the proposed changes to staff to child ratios in early years settings might affect provision, including staff recruitment and retention. The results of this survey will be published.</p><p>This survey and responses to the consultation will inform final policy decisions and the government’s response to the consultation in the autumn, in which final policy decisions will be set out.</p><p>The department is committed to providing safe, high-quality early years provision for children. Throughout this consultation process, the department will engage fully with the sector and parents and carers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bassetlaw answering member printed Brendan Clarke-Smith question first answered 14/07/2022 12:24:10 answering member 4756 label Biography information for Brendan Clarke-Smith
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1487425

registered interest
date	07/07/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) forecast and (b) actual expenditure was for the tax free childcare scheme in 2021-22.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	32591
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2022 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting families with their childcare costs through Tax-Free Childcare and we are continuing to encourage eligible families to sign up for it. Take-up of Tax-Free Childcare is on a steady upward trajectory and has continued to increase despite the covid-19 pandemic. At the end of March 2022 (the most recent data) an estimated 384,000 families used Tax-Free Childcare for 458,000 children, compared to 328,000 families for 384,000 children in December 2021. The Government spent £43 million on Tax-Free Childcare top-up for families in March 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Actual spend on Tax-Free Childcare in financial year 2021/22 was above forecast. At the Spring 2021 Budget, the forecast expenditure for Tax-Free Childcare in 2021/22 was £0.39bn. Tax-Free Childcare expenditure in 2021/22 was £0.41bn.</p><p> </p><p>Government spending on Tax-Free Childcare was below forecast for the financial years 2017/18 to 2020/21. When many childcare settings were closed in 2020 and 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Government brought easements into Tax-Free Childcare, 30 hours and Working Tax Credit childcare support offers, allowing parents to remain eligible for these offers despite potential changes to their circumstances due to covid-19.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also driving a renewed campaign – via the Childcare Choices website - so parents can access the support they are entitled to. This will also encourage providers to take the necessary steps to offer the full range of childcare support to parents.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 32592 question first answered 12/07/2022 16:44:48 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1487426

registered interest
date	07/07/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of how underspend on tax free childcare has been used in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	32592
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2022 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting families with their childcare costs through Tax-Free Childcare and we are continuing to encourage eligible families to sign up for it. Take-up of Tax-Free Childcare is on a steady upward trajectory and has continued to increase despite the covid-19 pandemic. At the end of March 2022 (the most recent data) an estimated 384,000 families used Tax-Free Childcare for 458,000 children, compared to 328,000 families for 384,000 children in December 2021. The Government spent £43 million on Tax-Free Childcare top-up for families in March 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Actual spend on Tax-Free Childcare in financial year 2021/22 was above forecast. At the Spring 2021 Budget, the forecast expenditure for Tax-Free Childcare in 2021/22 was £0.39bn. Tax-Free Childcare expenditure in 2021/22 was £0.41bn.</p><p> </p><p>Government spending on Tax-Free Childcare was below forecast for the financial years 2017/18 to 2020/21. When many childcare settings were closed in 2020 and 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Government brought easements into Tax-Free Childcare, 30 hours and Working Tax Credit childcare support offers, allowing parents to remain eligible for these offers despite potential changes to their circumstances due to covid-19.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also driving a renewed campaign – via the Childcare Choices website - so parents can access the support they are entitled to. This will also encourage providers to take the necessary steps to offer the full range of childcare support to parents.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke grouped question UIN 32591 question first answered 12/07/2022 16:44:48 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1487427

registered interest
date	07/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2022 to Question 25946 on Children: Day Care and her Majesty’s Chief Inspector’s response, what assessment he has made of the impact of nursery and childcare provider closures on the (a) availability and (b) affordability of childcare by region.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	32593
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare. Ofsted publishes the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register. This currently shows that the number of places has remained broadly stable since August 2015. Both the national and regional data can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-march-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-march-2022</a>.</p><p>Officials from the department are in regular contact with local authority Early Years Leads in England to monitor delivery of the department’s free early education entitlements, including sufficiency of places. All 152 local authorities report that they are fulfilling their statutory duty to secure sufficient childcare for working parents, and children eligible for early education entitlements. Where localised sufficiency challenges have been identified, we are assured that local authorities have plans in place to mitigate these.</p><p>According to findings from the 2021 Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers, 7 in 10 of group-based providers reported having spare places in their full-day provision. Almost half of childminders, 49%, reported having spare capacity on average across the week.</p><p>All children aged three and four can access 15 hours of free childcare a week. The department has doubled this for three and four-year-olds in families where parents work, saving them over £6,000 a year. In the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, the department announced an investment in additional funding for the early years entitlements, worth £160 million in 2022/23, £180 million in 2023/24, and £170 million in 2024/25, compared to the 2021/22 financial year. This is for local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers for the government’s free childcare entitlement offers and reflects cost pressures and changes in the number of eligible children anticipated at the time of the Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency Bassetlaw answering member printed Brendan Clarke-Smith question first answered 21/07/2022 18:09:18 answering member 4756 label Biography information for Brendan Clarke-Smith
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1486654

registered interest
date	05/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that childcare is (a) affordable and (b) accessible.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	31209
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2022 answer text <p>The government is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare. That is why we have spent over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on early education entitlements.</p><p> </p><p>On 4 July, the government announced further measures to increase take-up of childcare support and reduce the costs and bureaucracy facing providers. We have also announced a new £1.2 million campaign to make sure that every parent knows about the government-funded support for which they are eligible.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bassetlaw answering member printed Brendan Clarke-Smith question first answered 13/07/2022 16:18:35 answering member 4756 label Biography information for Brendan Clarke-Smith
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1486178

registered interest
date	04/07/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing financial support via the Tax-Free Childcare scheme for parents in London in the context of the rise in the cost of childcare in London relative to other parts of England.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	30075
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2022 answer text <p>Tax Free Childcare provides financial support for working parents with their childcare costs. For every £8 parents pay into their childcare account, the government adds £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 in top up per year for each child aged up to 11, and up to £4,000 per disabled child until they’re 17.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, 15 hours of free childcare per week is available for all three- and four-year-olds regardless of circumstance and an additional 15 hours of free childcare per week is available for working parents of three- and four-year-olds. Some parents can also access the disadvantaged 2-year-old offer which gives 15 hours of free childcare per week to 2-year-olds who meet certain social and economic criteria. Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85% of their childcare costs.</p><p> </p><p>As Tax-Free Childcare is a UK-wide offer, the level of financial support it provides has been set at the same level to avoid arbitrary cut-offs between different regions.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke question first answered 11/07/2022 14:57:32 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1484397

registered interest
date	28/06/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many nurseries and childcare settings closed in England in each year since 2018, by local authority.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	26816
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2022 answer text <p>This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.</p> answering member constituency Bassetlaw answering member printed Brendan Clarke-Smith question first answered 14/07/2022 11:33:24 answering member 4756 label Biography information for Brendan Clarke-Smith
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1484398

registered interest
date	28/06/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of available childcare places in England by local authority.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	26817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2022 answer text <p>The department does not hold figures on the number of nursery school places available, however we continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bassetlaw answering member printed Brendan Clarke-Smith question first answered 14/07/2022 11:19:19 answering member 4756 label Biography information for Brendan Clarke-Smith
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes