Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of schools in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency that will require capital adjustments to deliver expanded breakfast provision under the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department has so far successfully delivered 5 million meals through 750 early adopter free breakfast clubs and schools have told us about the many benefits these clubs provide including improved attendance, behaviour and attainment.
We have seen our early adopters successfully manage space constrains and we continue to encourage local authorities, responsible bodies, academy trusts, schools and providers to work together to solve problems collaboratively, ensuring the needs of parents and children are met.
Schools have flexibility to decide where to deliver their provision, in accordance with the minimum expectations. They are expected to consider all space available onsite, including classrooms. Alternatively, they can opt to offer the provision offsite at a nearby venue. Schools will receive a £1000 start-up grant to spend on any equipment, materials, training and infrastructure and systems needed to deliver.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of the indicative early years funding allocations on workforce recruitment and retention in early years settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The early years workforce is at the heart of the government’s mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver our Plan for Change. Our Best Start in Life strategy sets out how we are improving the quality of early education by investing in training and qualifications, increasing understanding of high quality practice and providing more access to proven, evidence-based early years programmes. The latest early years census data reports a 7.2% increase in the number of workers between 2024 and 2025, to 272,500 staff. This represents an increase of 18,200 workers and is the biggest increase we have seen since the data became available in 2018, likely driven by the expanded entitlements.
We know from listening to the sector and our own regular research, that the cost of delivery is highest for younger children due to tighter staffing ratios and, consequently, higher staff costs, as staffing makes up the most significant proportion of provider costs. Our funding rates are set to reflect this with government funding rates for younger children remaining significantly higher than typical parent-paid fees.
For 2026/27, the national average funding rate is £12.04 for under twos, £8.90 for two-year-olds, and £6.42 for three to four-year-olds, compared to average parent-paid fees from last year of £7.18, £7.09, and £6.78 respectively. Combined with the increase in hours through the expansion, these higher funding rates for younger children mean substantially more investment is flowing into the early years sector with an expected £9.5 billion being provide for the early years in 2026-27.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what analysis her Department has undertaken on the relationship between early years entitlement funding rates and levels of parental fees charged above entitlement hours.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The early years workforce is at the heart of the government’s mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver our Plan for Change. Our Best Start in Life strategy sets out how we are improving the quality of early education by investing in training and qualifications, increasing understanding of high quality practice and providing more access to proven, evidence-based early years programmes. The latest early years census data reports a 7.2% increase in the number of workers between 2024 and 2025, to 272,500 staff. This represents an increase of 18,200 workers and is the biggest increase we have seen since the data became available in 2018, likely driven by the expanded entitlements.
We know from listening to the sector and our own regular research, that the cost of delivery is highest for younger children due to tighter staffing ratios and, consequently, higher staff costs, as staffing makes up the most significant proportion of provider costs. Our funding rates are set to reflect this with government funding rates for younger children remaining significantly higher than typical parent-paid fees.
For 2026/27, the national average funding rate is £12.04 for under twos, £8.90 for two-year-olds, and £6.42 for three to four-year-olds, compared to average parent-paid fees from last year of £7.18, £7.09, and £6.78 respectively. Combined with the increase in hours through the expansion, these higher funding rates for younger children mean substantially more investment is flowing into the early years sector with an expected £9.5 billion being provide for the early years in 2026-27.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children taking up early years entitlements in 2026-27 in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency are projected to be from households in the bottom two deciles of income distribution.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The latest January 2025 statistics on Funded early education and childcare were published in July here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025.
Figures on the number of children registered for government funded entitlements in Buckinghamshire can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8be865c0-9f87-475e-9475-08de4155ee12.
Statistics from households in the bottom two deciles of income distribution are not readily available, nor are figures at parliamentary constituency level. Statistics for January 2026 have a provisional release date on GOV.UK of July 2026.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on expected changes in childcare demand in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency associated with childcare measures in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
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.
The government’s landmark Child Poverty Strategy sets out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups. From next year, parents claiming Universal Credit who are starting or returning to work (including after parental leave) will be able to have their childcare costs paid before they pay them - removing the need to front the money and claim it back later. Previously, Universal Credit covered childcare costs for up to two children. Under the new policy, families with more than two children will receive support for all their childcare costs.
Although we do not hold this data on a constituency level, there are no reported issues in the South East region.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support mechanisms her Department has in place for schools in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency considered at risk of failing to meet attendance improvement targets.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling absence is central to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Children attended over 5.3 million additional days in the 2024/25 school year compared to the 2023/23 school year, with over 140,000 fewer pupils persistently absent.
Our statutory ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance sets clear expectations for schools to take a support-first approach, using data to identify patterns and intervene early.
To support this, our attendance baseline improvement expectations (ABIEs) set out the minimum improvement expected over an academic year, based on each school’s context and previous year’s attendance. Schools’ progress against their ABIEs informs the type of support offered.
ABIEs are a starting point, not a limit. Schools are encouraged to work, towards pre-pandemic attendance levels or better. Indicative ABIEs are available now, with full introduction in 2026/27.
Alongside ABIEs, schools receive ‘similar schools’ reports which name higher-performing schools with comparable characteristics and provide advice on how to contact them to share strategies. Schools can also access an updated attendance improvement toolkit for practical advice on attendance improvement. For schools facing the greatest challenges, we are rolling out up to 90 Attendance and Behaviour Hubs, to deliver structured peer support and bespoke improvement plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to schools in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency on minimum attendance improvement targets.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling absence is central to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Children attended over 5.3 million additional days in the 2024/25 school year compared to the 2023/23 school year, with over 140,000 fewer pupils persistently absent.
Our statutory ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance sets clear expectations for schools to take a support-first approach, using data to identify patterns and intervene early.
To support this, our attendance baseline improvement expectations (ABIEs) set out the minimum improvement expected over an academic year, based on each school’s context and previous year’s attendance. Schools’ progress against their ABIEs informs the type of support offered.
ABIEs are a starting point, not a limit. Schools are encouraged to work, towards pre-pandemic attendance levels or better. Indicative ABIEs are available now, with full introduction in 2026/27.
Alongside ABIEs, schools receive ‘similar schools’ reports which name higher-performing schools with comparable characteristics and provide advice on how to contact them to share strategies. Schools can also access an updated attendance improvement toolkit for practical advice on attendance improvement. For schools facing the greatest challenges, we are rolling out up to 90 Attendance and Behaviour Hubs, to deliver structured peer support and bespoke improvement plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what baseline data her Department uses to determine school-specific attendance improvement targets.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department uses a combination of national and school-level data to determine each school’s attendance baseline improvement expectation (ABIE), which sets out the minimum improvement expected over an academic year.
ABIEs include a context-based factor, which compares a school’s previous year attendance with that of statistically similar schools. Similar schools are identified using characteristics such as free school meal eligibility, special educational needs, deprivation, funding levels, and region.
The reports headteachers receive also include pre-pandemic attendance benchmarks and local authority averages, providing schools with a “ladder of ambition” against which to benchmark improvements.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what monitoring arrangements her Department has in place to evaluate the impact of the attendance improvement roadmap on pupil outcomes.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
To monitor progress against our journey to return to pre-pandemic levels of attendance and beyond, the department collects comprehensive attendance data to track trends and identify what is working well and where the system needs support.
Our world leading data tools allow us to monitor real time attendance across all state-funded schools. By analysing this data at national, regional, and school level, we can assess progress towards pre-pandemic levels and ensure interventions are targeted where they will have the greatest impact on pupil outcomes.
Support provided through Attendance and Behaviour Hubs and our expanded mentoring programme, is subject to ongoing monitoring and quality assurance by regional advisers and will be independently evaluated to assess their impact on attendance and pupil outcomes.
Thanks to the efforts of the sector, absence is moving in the right direction, with children gaining over five million more days in school last year compared to the previous year.