Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average hourly rate paid to early years providers for the 30 hours of free childcare entitlement in this financial year; and what detailed analysis they have carried out to compare that rate to the median hourly cost of childcare delivery for a child aged 3–4 years old in the private, voluntary and independent sector.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2025/26, the average rate per hour that the department pays to local authorities is £11.54 for under 2s, £8.53 for 2-year olds, and £6.12 for 3-and-4-year olds although this will vary by local authorities to reflect how costs vary across the country. Local authorities then use local formulae to determine the rate they pay to providers and there is a statutory duty that at least 96% (rising to 97% in 2026/27) is passed onto providers.
To inform decisions on the rate at which early years providers are funded for delivering entitlements, the department uses an analytical model which uses data from the early years census and the survey of childcare and early years providers, a large-scale and robust survey on the childcare market in England, sampling over 9,000 providers. It also considers various government forecasts such as AEG and CPI and factors in the national living wage to determine cost pressures for the early years sector.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authority areas currently have a shortfall of funded places for 30 hours of free child care to meet local demand; what is the average reported waiting list time in months for a full-time funded place in the ten worst affected areas; and what target date has been set for ensuring enough funded places are available in all areas.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years' entitlements. This will more than double annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government funded childcare for working parents.
We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life. The first phase of the programme is creating up to 6,000 new nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 have been made available from September 2025.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and. Where needed we will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. The department does not hold data on waiting lists. No local authorities have reported to us that they do not have sufficient childcare places.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current staff turnover rate for qualified early years educators in England; and what steps they plan to take to address the disparity between median early years sector wages and the average starting salary for a primary school teaching assistant with equivalent qualifications.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The ‘Childcare and early years providers survey: 2025’ shows turnover rate for all early years educators in private group-based providers is 16% and 7% in school-based providers. Estimated turnover rates have fallen for both provider types. Fieldwork for the survey was carried out between May and July 2025.
In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion, more than doubling the government’s commitment to funded childcare and reflects above inflation increases to both funding rates and National Living Wage.
Early education is delivered by a mixed market, the majority of which are private, voluntary and independent provision who set their own rates of pay. Hourly pay increased by 8.2% at school-based providers and by 6.3% at group-based providers against a backdrop of a 6.7% increase in the national living wage between 2024 and 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to their response to Memorandum on child poverty in the UK, published by the Council of Europe Commission for Human Rights on 25 February, whether they will publish (1) a children's rights impact assessment, and (2) a child-friendly version of the child poverty strategy; and if so, when they plan to publish those documents.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We will publish a children’s rights impact assessment alongside a child‑friendly version of the strategy later this month.
Development of the UK Government’s Child Poverty Strategy was guided by a children’s rights approach throughout. This included actively engaging with children and young people, as well as organisations that represent them, ensuring their voices and lived experiences shaped policy development.
We are committed to continuing this approach as the strategy is implemented, by hearing directly from children and their families. This will ensure their experiences and feedback are considered when evaluating the strategy’s implementation and areas to improve delivery of the strategy are identified.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what process her Department has in place to help ensure that Plan 2 student loan borrowers are informed of any changes made to their repayment terms.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Student Loans Company (SLC) publishes confirmation of the interest rates and repayment threshold to apply in the upcoming financial year annually on GOV.UK. Furthermore, SLC have extensive guidance on the operation of the student loan repayments system available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) total number, and (2) percentage, of parents eligible for 30 hours of free childcare who have not used those hours in the most recent period for which data is available; and what assessment they have made of the main reason for non-take up of the entitlement, including lack of local capacity or administrative complexity.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
As of January 2025, 1.7 million eligible children were registered for childcare entitlements. This includes the number of 3 and 4 year-olds registered for the universal entitlement, the number of children aged 9 months to 2 years registered for the working parent entitlement, and the number of 2 year-olds registered for early learning for two year-olds entitlement. Additional take up statistics for early years entitlements can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025.
Furthermore, the Childcare Experience Survey explores some of the reasons that parents do not take up entitlements, though this does not cover the latest expansion to 30 hours from 9 months.
The department remains committed to improving awareness of and access to the early years' entitlements.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing a national rollout of parenting programmes, such as Triple P and Incredible Years, on levels of stigma associated with seeking parenting support.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is committed to expanding access to high-quality, evidence‑based parenting and home learning support as part of the Best Start in Life Strategy, delivered through the national rollout of Best Start Family Hubs.
Local authorities are expected to commission from departmental menus of programmes with the strongest evidence base, which include both in-person and digital options.
Delivering these programmes through open-access models within Best Start Family Hubs, aims to normalise parenting support by making it widely available and integrated within a broader system of help for families. This approach is intended to broaden access, ensure families can seek support in a non‑judgemental, accessible environment and reduce barriers, including stigma.
The department will continue to evaluate the impact of Best Start Family Hubs to ensure they are delivering positive outcomes for children and families and informing future policy development.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of improving access to the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department recognises the value of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset in supporting high‑quality research and evidence‑based policymaking. LEO already underpins a wide range of official statistics and analytical publications, and independent researchers can access the underlying data securely through the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service.
The department works with its partners to improve user experience, streamline access processes, and to expand support materials to assist third party use of LEO data.
A further five years of funding to develop LEO access has recently been confirmed for this purpose along with the largest ever increase of funding to the development of LEO.
Improvements must balance the potential merits with our obligations to safeguard personal data and the public’s trust. We keep arrangements for data access under regular review to ensure they remain proportionate, secure and in line with data protection requirements.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the increase in the number of children classified as children missing education (CME) in Lancashire over the last decade; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications of this for her policies.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Children Missing Education data was first collected on a voluntary basis in Autumn 2022. Lancashire reported 4,690 Children Missing Education at any point in the 2024/25 academic year. This is a decrease from 4,820 in 2023/24, and an increase from 2,280 when collection began in 2021/22.
The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity for our young people, and education is key in providing the strong foundations to better life chances.
Local authorities already have a duty to locate and support children back into education where necessary, and we have published statutory guidance on ‘Children Missing Education’, and ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ that reinforces the roles and responsibilities of schools and local authorities to work together in this area. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will go further, requiring councils to maintain registers of children not in school, ensuring fewer young people slip under the radar.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities experiencing increases in children missing education, including Lancashire County Council.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Children Missing Education data was first collected on a voluntary basis in Autumn 2022. Lancashire reported 4,690 Children Missing Education at any point in the 2024/25 academic year. This is a decrease from 4,820 in 2023/24, and an increase from 2,280 when collection began in 2021/22.
The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity for our young people, and education is key in providing the strong foundations to better life chances.
Local authorities already have a duty to locate and support children back into education where necessary, and we have published statutory guidance on ‘Children Missing Education’, and ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ that reinforces the roles and responsibilities of schools and local authorities to work together in this area. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will go further, requiring councils to maintain registers of children not in school, ensuring fewer young people slip under the radar.