Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Ofsted-registered early years providers have ceased operating in England in each of the past three calendar years, broken down by region and local authority; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the funding framework for 30 hours of free childcare on those closures.

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

In 2026/27, the department expects to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling 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.

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. The department does not hold data on waiting lists. No local authorities have reported to us that they do not have sufficient childcare places.

For Ofsted data on Ofsted-registered early years providers who have left the Early Years Register, by region and local authority, please see attached table. The data shows that there has been a slow-down in providers leaving the market.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the average amount of extra charges paid by parents who claim 30 hours of free childcare; and what steps they are taking to enforce guidance that prevents providers from making mandatory charges a condition of accessing free hours of childcare.

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 part of the childcare experience survey and the childcare and early years survey of parents, parents who claim 30 hours childcare are asked to indicate any additional charges they pay to their provider. The survey does not ask whether paying the fixed charges is conditional for taking up a place.

The department has recently updated statutory guidance for local authorities. This guidance reinforces that there must be no mandatory charges. The statutory guidance is clear that there must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the free hours. We explain in the statutory guidance that while providers can charge for consumables, food and optional extra activities, as well as additional hours beyond the entitlements, that these must be voluntary for the parent. We furthermore provide a non-exhaustive list of items and services that providers cannot charge for.

Local authorities are empowered to ensure that providers follow this guidance through their provider agreements. How that will be enforced is a matter for the local authority to decide.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the outcome of the consultation of the extension of Healthy Start to children from families with no recourse to public funds; and whether they have set a timeline for making that extension a statutory scheme.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. The Department is currently considering options on this issue, and further information will be available in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what steps they are taking to ensure that the measures to support newborn babies, including voucher schemes, are accessible to families seeking asylum who use an Aspen debit card.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

In addition to the standard weekly allowance, additional financial support is available during pregnancy and for families with babies and young children, including higher weekly payments and a one-off maternity payment to help meet the costs of caring for a newborn baby. These payments are accessible through the Aspen card.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what discussions the Home Office have had with the Department for Education about the guidance to local authorities on statutory duties under section 17 of the Children Act 1989; and what steps they have taken to ensure that safeguarding and the best interests of children are considered in that guidance.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 establishes the general duty of local authorities in England to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need and, so far as is consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children by their families.

I can confirm that the Home Office is working with the Department for Education alongside other government departments and the NRPF network to produce guidance to assist local authorities in their duties to those with No Recourse to Public Funds as part of the Child Poverty Strategy.

The duty Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 duty does not apply to the Home Office. Instead, Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 places a duty on the Home Office to make arrangements for ensuring that immigration, asylum, nationality and general customs functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the UK.

The statutory guidance, called ‘Every Child Matters’, issued under Section 55 (3), sets out the key arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as they apply both generally to public bodies who deal with children in the UK (Part 1) and specifically to the Home Office (Part 2).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of including binding targets and milestones for reducing child poverty in the Child Poverty Strategy.

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

I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave to grouped questions HL15158, HL15156, HL15157, HL15155 HL on 18 March 2026

Our Child Poverty Strategy fulfils our commitment to reducing poverty this Parliament, lifting 550,000 children out of poverty, and sets out our ambition to tackle its structural drivers as part of a long-term, 10-year strategy. This Government has taken decisive action, with the interventions in the Strategy set to lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework Child Poverty Strategy: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework - GOV.UK, published alongside the Strategy, sets out our plans and further details on our approach will follow in a baseline report this Summer. We will continue to have a dedicated team in government that, with Ministerial oversight, will work across government, the public and private sectors and civil society to maintain focus on tackling child poverty and build on the Strategy.

Government already has a statutory duty to publish poverty statistics annually and we also hold ourselves to account on our progress through the monitoring and evaluation arrangements we have put in place, from this year and in future years, so that the progress we make is transparent for all. Deep material poverty estimates based on two-year averages will be published for each of the UK nations in the March 2026 HBAI publication.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 18 March (HL15076), whether the baseline report will quantify the reduction in child poverty they aim to achieve for the 10 year strategy period.

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

Our Child Poverty Strategy fulfils our commitment to reducing poverty this Parliament, lifting 550,000 children out of poverty in 2029/30. The commitments set out in the Strategy are set to lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (Child Poverty Strategy: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework - GOV.UK), published alongside the Strategy, sets out our plans. Further details on our approach will follow in a baseline report this Summer which will set out the latest statistics and evidence.

Government already has a statutory duty to publish poverty statistics annually and we will also hold ourselves to account on our progress through the monitoring and evaluation arrangements we have put in place, from this year and in future years, so that the progress we make is transparent for all.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 18 March (HL15076), when they expect to publish the baseline report.

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

Our Child Poverty Strategy fulfils our commitment to reducing poverty this Parliament, lifting 550,000 children out of poverty in 2029/30. The commitments set out in the Strategy are set to lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (Child Poverty Strategy: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework - GOV.UK), published alongside the Strategy, sets out our plans. Further details on our approach will follow in a baseline report this Summer which will set out the latest statistics and evidence.

Government already has a statutory duty to publish poverty statistics annually and we will also hold ourselves to account on our progress through the monitoring and evaluation arrangements we have put in place, from this year and in future years, so that the progress we make is transparent for all.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to understand how the building of 1.5 million new affordable homes is likely to impact on the number of empty homes; and what precautions are in place to prevent the number of empty homes rising.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government wants to see more empty homes brought back into use. But the sheer scale of the housing crisis demands historic levels of housebuilding, which is why we have committed to building 1.5 million homes over this Parliament.

The government does not publish correspondence relating to the location of empty homes in the UK. Statistics on empty properties in England are published annually and can be found on gov.uk here (attached).

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish correspondence relating to efforts to ascertain the location of empty homes in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government wants to see more empty homes brought back into use. But the sheer scale of the housing crisis demands historic levels of housebuilding, which is why we have committed to building 1.5 million homes over this Parliament.

The government does not publish correspondence relating to the location of empty homes in the UK. Statistics on empty properties in England are published annually and can be found on gov.uk here (attached).

Found: As for the Government’s argument, I supported Lord Bird in pushing for targets and I was not terribly