Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of increases to employer national insurance contributions on the average staffing costs for each nursery.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require. We are also providing £25 million of funding to support public sector employers with increased national insurance contributions (NICs) through the early years NICs grant.
As we continue to roll out the new entitlements, we will keep the funding process under review to ensure that early years funding is distributed fairly and efficiently.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of exempting nurseries from increases to employers' National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require. We are also providing £25 million of funding to support public sector employers with increased national insurance contributions (NICs) through the early years NICs grant.
As we continue to roll out the new entitlements, we will keep the funding process under review to ensure that early years funding is distributed fairly and efficiently.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of increases in employer national insurance contributions on the number of nurseries.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require. We are also providing £25 million of funding to support public sector employers with increased national insurance contributions (NICs) through the early years NICs grant.
As we continue to roll out the new entitlements, we will keep the funding process under review to ensure that early years funding is distributed fairly and efficiently.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the funding model for nurseries.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require. We are also providing £25 million of funding to support public sector employers with increased national insurance contributions (NICs) through the early years NICs grant.
As we continue to roll out the new entitlements, we will keep the funding process under review to ensure that early years funding is distributed fairly and efficiently.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to simplify the application process for the Disability Facilities Grant.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. This is why government awarded an £86 million in-year uplift to the DFG for 2024-25, bringing the total funding for 2024-25 to £711 million. Government has also confirmed £711 million for the DFG for 2025-26.
In March 2022 government published guidance for local authorities in England on the effective and efficient delivery of the grant, including best practice in setting out the application process. A link to the guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disabled-facilities-grant-dfg-delivery-guidance-for-local-authorities-in-england. It is for each local authority to decide its own application processes in line with the legislative requirements, but the guidance makes clear that local authorities should ensure the needs of applicants are at the heart of the grant application process.
Government continues to keep all aspects of the DFG under consideration. As part of this, the suitability of the current £30,000 upper limit is being reviewed. Government is also reviewing the allocations formula for the DFG to ensure the funding is aligned with local needs and will consult on a new approach during 2025. Any changes in policy that require additional funding would be subject to the Spending Review.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of raising the personal tax-free allowance in line with the state pension on public finances.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Personal Allowance - the amount an individual can earn before paying tax - will continue to exceed the basic and full new State Pension this tax year. This means pensioners whose sole income is the full new State Pension or basic State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax.
The previous Government made the decision to freeze the income tax Personal Allowance at its current level of £12,570 until April 2028. This Government is committed to keeping people’s taxes as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility and so, at our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on raising the level of the personal tax-free allowance in line with the basic state pension.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The DWP Secretary of State engages regularly with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. As the Minister for Pensions, I also serve as a Parliamentary Secretary at HM Treasury. Currently the Personal Allowance, which is the amount an individual can earn before paying tax, is higher than the full rates of both the basic and new State Pensions. This means pensioners whose income is solely the full new State Pension or basic State Pension will not pay any income tax.
The previous Government made the decision to freeze the income tax Personal Allowance at its current level of £12,570 until April 2028. At our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds.
Under the previous Government the vast majority of pensioners already pay Income Tax. When individuals’ wider income was taken into account in 2022/23 over 80% of pensioners had an income over the Personal Allowance Tax Threshold.
This Government is absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.
Over 12 million pensioners will benefit from our commitment to protect the Triple Lock which is set to increase spending on the State Pension by around £31 billion and will increase people’s yearly State Pensions by up to £1,900 this Parliament.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For all of offices except Darlington, we have a desk booking system which enables staff to reserve a desk prior to attending the office. However, it is a recommendation rather than a requirement for staff to reserve a space in advance. In the Darlington Economic Campus, staff book a space rather than a desk to attend the office and this is done in collaboration with the other Departments we share with.
ALBs operate at arm's length from the department and have the flexibility to determine their own workplace policies, including desk booking arrangements. The department does not collect this information centrally.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department, via the Government Property Agency as its asset manager, leases a total of thirteen sites, in multi-tenanted buildings, for use by its staff. There is no requirement for staff to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person. All the department’s arm length bodies, bar those classed as Executive Agencies, manage their own respective estates. They have advised that they do not require staff to book a desk in advance in order to attend any of their offices.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS staff are encouraged to book a desk to guarantee a work setting whilst working at our London HQ. Other non bookable work settings are also available for staff to use. Desk booking is not currently implemented at any other DCMS office location.
Desk booking services for arm’s length bodies within DCMS are not centrally held and would come at disproportionate cost to the department in producing this information.