Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of the childcare sector to deliver Government-funded childcare places; and what their current estimate is of any shortfall or surplus of places.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Through the Best Start in Life strategy, the department is focused on reforming the childcare system and delivering on our Plan for Change. This government continues to prioritise and protect investment in the early years, which is why we are investing over £1 billion more in early years entitlements next year compared to 2025/26. The school-based nursery programme is a £400 million capital investment to deliver the government’s manifesto commitment to create or expand thousands of additional school-based nurseries across England, increasing access to childcare for families.

The department is providing £82 million of capital funding to over 600 primary and maintained nursery schools across phases 1 and 2 which will create over 11,000 new nursery places by September 2027, of which over 5,000 places were 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, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. There are currently no sufficiency challenges reported.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what issues the consultation on the proposed scale test will consider, including whether it will examine (1) the definition of a Main Scale Default Arrangement, (2) how assets will be counted towards the threshold, and (3) the pathways available for schemes to reach scale.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government has committed to publish an update to the June 2025 ‘Workplace pensions: a roadmap’. This will include timelines for consultation on the scale measures, which will cover the issues raised amongst others.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how long the consultation on the proposed scale test for defined contribution schemes will run; and when they expect the consultation process to conclude.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government has committed to publish an update to the June 2025 ‘Workplace pensions: a roadmap’. This will include timelines for consultation on the scale measures, which will cover the issues raised amongst others.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assets will count towards the £25 billion requirement for a Main Scale Default Arrangement under the Pension Schemes Bill; and whether assets held in default funds only, or across all scheme investments, will be included.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government set out its intended approach concerning the Main Scale Default Arrangements (MSDA) in the May 2025 consultation response and final report of the Pensions Investment Review. We have also recently published Pension Schemes Bill: Scale and Consolidation on Gov.UK to give an overview of the government’s direction of travel ahead of detailed consultation on regulations.

As outlined in the final report of the Review, key benefits of scale are realised at the level on which strategic decisions on investment are made. This is generally at an ‘arrangement’ level.

To meet the scale requirement, a provider must demonstrate that it holds assets of at least £25 billion in their MSDA.

These assets may be counted from a number of connected schemes offered by a single provider, but they must all be managed under a common investment strategy.

Further details will be set out in regulations following formal consultation.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the £25 billion Main Scale Default Arrangement requirement will be assessed at the level of the scheme, individual default arrangements, or sections within a scheme.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government set out its intended approach concerning the Main Scale Default Arrangements (MSDA) in the May 2025 consultation response and final report of the Pensions Investment Review. We have also recently published Pension Schemes Bill: Scale and Consolidation on Gov.UK to give an overview of the government’s direction of travel ahead of detailed consultation on regulations.

As outlined in the final report of the Review, key benefits of scale are realised at the level on which strategic decisions on investment are made. This is generally at an ‘arrangement’ level.

To meet the scale requirement, a provider must demonstrate that it holds assets of at least £25 billion in their MSDA.

These assets may be counted from a number of connected schemes offered by a single provider, but they must all be managed under a common investment strategy.

Further details will be set out in regulations following formal consultation.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the formal consultation on the proposed scale test for defined contribution pension schemes.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government has committed to publish an update to the June 2025 ‘Workplace pensions: a roadmap’. This will include timelines for consultation on the scale measures, which will cover the issues raised amongst others.

Found: explanatory material to support meaningful consultation.8 Speaking in favour of the amendment, Baroness Stedman-Scott