Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government who attended the first meeting of the early years screen time advisory group on 22 January; and what was discussed in that meeting.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The early years screen time advisory group is comprised of the following members:
All members of the group attended the first meeting of the early years screen time advisory group on 22 January, alongside officials from the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England.
This introductory meeting focused on agreeing ways of working, including delivery timelines and approaches to evidence gathering, and the scope of the early years screen time guidance. The group also discussed the dissemination of the guidance.
Minutes of the meeting will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the membership is of the early years screen time advisory group.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The early years screen time advisory group is comprised of the following members:
All members of the group attended the first meeting of the early years screen time advisory group on 22 January, alongside officials from the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England.
This introductory meeting focused on agreeing ways of working, including delivery timelines and approaches to evidence gathering, and the scope of the early years screen time guidance. The group also discussed the dissemination of the guidance.
Minutes of the meeting will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assumptions they used to estimate the take-up of the expansion of free childcare hours in the Spring Budget 2023 (HC 560); whether those assumptions have been subsequently revised; and if so, when and by how much.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information regarding the assumptions of take-up of the expanded working parent entitlements and funding made available at Spring Budget 2023 can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66221ba8252f0d71cf757d2b/Spring_budget_2023_childcare_expansion_costing_note_information.pdf.
In subsequent fiscal events, this government has provided funding uplifts for the overall early years entitlements budget which includes both the new working parents entitlements and the established entitlements. The Autumn Budget 2024 announced an additional £1.8 billion of funding for the early years entitlements in 2025/26, compared to 2024/25. The spending review 2025 announced an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to 2025/26, for the early years entitlements. The early years entitlements budget is demand-led, with final totals confirmed the term after the end of the financial year through the dedicated schools grant allocations.
Estimates of take-up of the expanded working parent entitlements have been updated each year using the annual official statistics release on funded early education and childcare, which reported a take up rate of 84% of the estimated number of eligible two-year-olds, 70% of the estimated number of eligible one-year-olds and 42% of the estimated number of eligible under-one-year-olds. The latest statistics can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025#releaseHeadlines-tables.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding was allocated to the expansion of free childcare hours in the Spring Budget 2023, and how much, if any, additional funding was announced in each subsequent fiscal event.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information regarding the assumptions of take-up of the expanded working parent entitlements and funding made available at Spring Budget 2023 can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66221ba8252f0d71cf757d2b/Spring_budget_2023_childcare_expansion_costing_note_information.pdf.
In subsequent fiscal events, this government has provided funding uplifts for the overall early years entitlements budget which includes both the new working parents entitlements and the established entitlements. The Autumn Budget 2024 announced an additional £1.8 billion of funding for the early years entitlements in 2025/26, compared to 2024/25. The spending review 2025 announced an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to 2025/26, for the early years entitlements. The early years entitlements budget is demand-led, with final totals confirmed the term after the end of the financial year through the dedicated schools grant allocations.
Estimates of take-up of the expanded working parent entitlements have been updated each year using the annual official statistics release on funded early education and childcare, which reported a take up rate of 84% of the estimated number of eligible two-year-olds, 70% of the estimated number of eligible one-year-olds and 42% of the estimated number of eligible under-one-year-olds. The latest statistics can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025#releaseHeadlines-tables.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take following the closure of the call for evidence for the parental leave and pay review.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We received over 1300 responses to the call for evidence. This information is currently being analysed, and the findings will go on to inform the review. Next steps will include engaging with a range of stakeholders, including advocacy groups, trade unions and business representatives, as well as evaluating other sources of evidence.
The review launched on 1 July and will last for 18 months. The Government will conclude the review with a set of findings and a roadmap, including next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the findings and Government response to the parental leave and pay review call for evidence.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We received over 1300 responses to the call for evidence. This information is currently being analysed, and the findings will go on to inform the review. Next steps will include engaging with a range of stakeholders, including advocacy groups, trade unions and business representatives, as well as evaluating other sources of evidence.
The review launched on 1 July and will last for 18 months. The Government will conclude the review with a set of findings and a roadmap, including next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research into the use of screens by children and young people replacing activities associated with healthy development, such as good quality sleep or time spent with family.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government recognises that children’s online activity can have benefits, from making new connections to learning new skills to gaining invaluable independence. This is why the right balance should be struck between offline activities and time spent online.
Existing research is uncertain about the causal relationships between screentime and child development. The government continues to explore how to improve the evidence base, including through further UKRI and NIHR-funded studies. This includes commissioning a feasibility study into research on the impact of social media and smartphone use on children. The report will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research that demonstrates the positive impacts of screen time on children and young people with a causal effect.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government recognises that children’s online activity can have benefits, from making new connections to learning new skills to gaining invaluable independence. This is why the right balance should be struck between offline activities and time spent online.
Existing research is uncertain about the causal relationships between screentime and child development. The government continues to explore how to improve the evidence base, including through further UKRI and NIHR-funded studies. This includes commissioning a feasibility study into research on the impact of social media and smartphone use on children. The report will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to early years education providers of the changes to employer National Insurance contributions announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 (HC 295).
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to repair the public finances, rebuild public services, and restore economic stability after the situation we inherited from the previous government.
The Government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employers’ National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all next year.
Early years providers play a crucial role in driving economic growth and that is why we have committed to delivering the expansion of government-funded childcare and invested £370m at the Spending Review in opening 3,000 new school-based nurseries in this parliament.
At the Budget in October 2024, the Chancellor announced that total funding will rise to over £8 billion in 2025-26 on early years entitlements, followed by an announcement at the Spending review of an additional £1.6bn per year by 2028-29. On top of this, the Department for Education confirmed an additional £75 million of funding in 2025-26 to support the childcare sector to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, alongside a further £25 million to support childcare for disadvantaged children through the early years pupil premium.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the average length of maternity leave broken down by income decile.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have not made a direct estimate of the average length of Maternity Leave broken down by income decile. The 2019 Parental Rights Survey asked mothers the total number of weeks of paid or unpaid maternity leave that they took (or planned to take) broken down by household income bands. This data is available in Table 30 of the mothers data tables here - https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/parental-rights-survey-2019.
In addition, the most recent HMRC statutory payments data was released as part of the Parental Leave review. This information is published here - https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/parental-leave-and-pay-review-call-for-evidence - and includes a breakdown of individuals receiving Statutory Maternity Pay by income decile (Table 15) and separately by the number of months the payment spanned (Table 21).