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1507562

registered interest
date	22/09/2022
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, with reference to advice published on the gov.uk website which states that people who are on adoption leave cannot apply for Tax Free Childcare in respect of the child for whom they are on Adoption Leave unless they are going back to work within 31 days of the date on which they first applied, whether that restriction also applies to those on shared parental, maternity or paternity leave.
tabling member constituency	Ceredigion
tabling member printed	Ben Lake
uin	54708
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2022 answer text <p>I can confirm the same rule applies to people on all forms of parental leave (including maternity, paternity and shared parental leave) unless they are expected to return to work within 31 days of the date in which their leave started. Parents remain eligible for Tax-Free Childcare for children other than the child that is the subject of the parental or adoption leave.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 11/10/2022 06:58:51 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4630 label Biography information for Ben Lake

1506773

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
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 assessment has he made of trends in the availability of childcare places (a) nationally and (b) in York.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	51820
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare nationally. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. Ofsted data currently shows that the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register has remained stable at 1.3 million places since August 2015. We also discuss sufficiency of provision in our regular conversations with local authorities. Local authorities are not currently reporting any substantial sufficiency issues and we have not seen a substantial number of parents unable to secure a childcare place, either nationally or in York specifically.</p><p>According to findings from the 2021 childcare and early years providers survey, 70% of group-based providers reported having spare places in their full day provision and 49% reported having spare capacity on average across the week: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2021" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2021</a>.</p><p>The department does not hold information on the trends in the availability of childcare in York.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 27/09/2022 10:09:53 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1505863

registered interest
date	07/09/2022
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 discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with the (i) Chancellor of the Exchequer and (ii) Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the potential impact of rising energy bills on (A) nurseries and (B) other childcare providers.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	49209
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2022 answer text <p>The government recognises and continues to assess the impact rising energy prices and inflation are having on nurseries, childminders and other childcare providers. Rising global prices of energy are likely to mean rising energy bills for childcare providers over the next two years, and that is why the government is taking action to support businesses, including those in the early years and childcare sector.</p><p>The Secretary of State meets regularly, and will continue to work closely with, his cabinet colleagues in the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy and HM Treasury to monitor the impacts on the early years and childcare sector.</p><p>On Thursday 8 September, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced measures to tackle current issues in the UK energy market, including the introduction of an Energy Price Guarantee to limit the price suppliers can charge customers for units of gas and electricity.</p><p>Typical UK households will pay no more than £2,500 a year on their gas and electricity bill for the next two years from Saturday 1 October. This will save the average household £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This will be in addition to the announced £400 energy bills discount for all households and together they will bring costs close to where the energy price cap stands today. This will support childminders operating from their own home who are on domestic energy tariffs.</p><p>There will be a new six-month scheme for businesses and all non-domestic energy users, including charities and public sector organisations. Providers in all educational sectors will therefore be eligible, including providers of childcare on non-domestic premises like nurseries.</p><p>After this initial six-month scheme for non-domestic customers, the government will provide ongoing, focused support for vulnerable sectors. There will be a review in three months’ time to consider where this should be targeted to make sure those most in need get support.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 49210 question first answered 22/09/2022 16:49:21 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1505864

registered interest
date	07/09/2022
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of rising energy bills for childcare providers on the cost of childcare in the next two years.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	49210
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2022 answer text <p>The government recognises and continues to assess the impact rising energy prices and inflation are having on nurseries, childminders and other childcare providers. Rising global prices of energy are likely to mean rising energy bills for childcare providers over the next two years, and that is why the government is taking action to support businesses, including those in the early years and childcare sector.</p><p>The Secretary of State meets regularly, and will continue to work closely with, his cabinet colleagues in the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy and HM Treasury to monitor the impacts on the early years and childcare sector.</p><p>On Thursday 8 September, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced measures to tackle current issues in the UK energy market, including the introduction of an Energy Price Guarantee to limit the price suppliers can charge customers for units of gas and electricity.</p><p>Typical UK households will pay no more than £2,500 a year on their gas and electricity bill for the next two years from Saturday 1 October. This will save the average household £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This will be in addition to the announced £400 energy bills discount for all households and together they will bring costs close to where the energy price cap stands today. This will support childminders operating from their own home who are on domestic energy tariffs.</p><p>There will be a new six-month scheme for businesses and all non-domestic energy users, including charities and public sector organisations. Providers in all educational sectors will therefore be eligible, including providers of childcare on non-domestic premises like nurseries.</p><p>After this initial six-month scheme for non-domestic customers, the government will provide ongoing, focused support for vulnerable sectors. There will be a review in three months’ time to consider where this should be targeted to make sure those most in need get support.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 49209 question first answered 22/09/2022 16:49:21 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1505326

registered interest
date	06/09/2022
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, whether he has plans to increase Government funding for early years providers.
tabling member constituency	Putney
tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
uin	48508
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>The department has spent over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on its early education entitlements and the government will continue to support families with their childcare costs.</p><p>In the 2021 Spending Review, we announced additional funding of £160 million in the 2022/23 financial year, £180 million in the 2023/24 financial year and £170 million in the 2024/25 financial year, compared to the 2021/22 financial year. This is for local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers and reflects cost pressures and changes in the number of eligible children anticipated at the time of the Spending Review.</p><p>For the 2022/23 financial year, the department has increased the hourly funding rates for all local authorities by 21p an hour for the 2-year-old entitlement and, for the vast majority of areas, by 17p an hour for the 3 and 4-year-old entitlement.</p><p>Over the summer, the department is consulting on proposals to update the formulae used to deliver the early years entitlements funding. This will ensure the funding system remains fair, effective and responsive to changing levels of need across different areas.</p><p>The department expects to announce the early years funding rates for local authorities for the 2023/24 financial year in the autumn in the normal way.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 27/09/2022 15:54:01 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1505366

registered interest
date	06/09/2022
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of inflation on costs for (a) nurseries, (b) childminders and (c) other childcare providers.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	48438
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2022 answer text <p>The department recognises and continues to assess the impact rising energy prices and inflation are having on nurseries, childminders and other childcare providers.</p><p>On Thursday 8 September, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced measures to tackle the root cause of the issues in the UK energy market including the introduction of an Energy Price Guarantee’ to limit the price suppliers can charge customers for units of gas and electricity.</p><p>To support childminders operating from their own home who are on domestic energy tariffs, typical UK households will pay no more than £2,500 a year on their gas and electricity bill for the next two years from Saturday 1 October. This will save the average household £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This will be in addition to the announced £400 energy bills discount for all households and together they will bring costs close to where the energy price cap stands today.</p><p>There will be a new six-month scheme for businesses and all non-domestic energy users, including charities and public sector organisations. Providers in all educational sectors will therefore be eligible, including providers of childcare on non-domestic premises like nurseries.</p><p>After this initial six-month scheme for non-domestic customers, the government will provide ongoing, focused support for vulnerable sectors. There will be a review in three months’ time to consider where this should be targeted to make sure those most in need get support.</p><p>We will continue to work closely with the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy to monitor the impacts on the early years and childcare sector. We will share further detail with the sector in due course.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 48439 48440 48441 48442 question first answered 26/09/2022 15:34:35 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1505367

registered interest
date	06/09/2022
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 support (a) nurseries, (b) childminders and (c) other childcare providers with the impact of rising levels of inflation.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	48439
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2022 answer text <p>The department recognises and continues to assess the impact rising energy prices and inflation are having on nurseries, childminders and other childcare providers.</p><p>On Thursday 8 September, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced measures to tackle the root cause of the issues in the UK energy market including the introduction of an Energy Price Guarantee’ to limit the price suppliers can charge customers for units of gas and electricity.</p><p>To support childminders operating from their own home who are on domestic energy tariffs, typical UK households will pay no more than £2,500 a year on their gas and electricity bill for the next two years from Saturday 1 October. This will save the average household £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This will be in addition to the announced £400 energy bills discount for all households and together they will bring costs close to where the energy price cap stands today.</p><p>There will be a new six-month scheme for businesses and all non-domestic energy users, including charities and public sector organisations. Providers in all educational sectors will therefore be eligible, including providers of childcare on non-domestic premises like nurseries.</p><p>After this initial six-month scheme for non-domestic customers, the government will provide ongoing, focused support for vulnerable sectors. There will be a review in three months’ time to consider where this should be targeted to make sure those most in need get support.</p><p>We will continue to work closely with the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy to monitor the impacts on the early years and childcare sector. We will share further detail with the sector in due course.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 48438 48440 48441 48442 question first answered 26/09/2022 15:34:35 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

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