Asked by: Claire Hazelgrove (Labour - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of childcare for children under the age of two.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements. This is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare.
Since September 2024, eligible parents have been able to access 15 hours of government-funded childcare (over 38 weeks a year) from the term after their child turns 9 months. This will double to 30 hours from September 2025.
The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children.
Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
Asked by: Claire Hazelgrove (Labour - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure adequate levels of financial education in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Financial education currently forms a compulsory part of the National Curriculum for mathematics (at key stages 1 to 4) and citizenship (at key stages 3 and 4). The primary mathematics curriculum includes arithmetic knowledge that supports pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including, for example, calculations with money and percentages. In secondary mathematics, pupils are taught topics such as how to calculate compound interest, which is relevant for personal finance. In citizenship, pupils are taught the function and uses of money, how to budget and manage credit and debt, as well as concepts like insurance, savings and pensions.
High and rising school standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. The government‘s ambition is for a broad, rich and cutting-edge curriculum that equips children and young people with the essential knowledge and skills required to thrive as citizens, in work and throughout life. This is why the government announced a Curriculum and Assessment Review on 19 July 2024, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review group has launched a call for evidence. The review group has set out a number of key questions and themes where it would particularly welcome evidence and input from the sector and stakeholders to help direct the focus of the review and engagement with the sector over the autumn term.
The views of young people, parents, teachers, lecturers, leaders and other education staff and experts are pivotal to the recommendations, so that the panel can draw on the wealth of expertise and experience across the sector. Anyone can access and respond to the call for evidence.
Asked by: Claire Hazelgrove (Labour - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the difficulties faced by parents in accessing free childcare places for children under 9 months old.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ensuring every child has the best start for life is a central priority for this government, including putting in place early family support services to help families to thrive in children’s first crucial months of life.
Children under 9 months are not eligible for government-funded childcare hours. Since September 2024, eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 15 hours of government-funded early education and childcare a week, over 38 weeks a year. This is available the term after the child turns nine months and the child's parent has a positive determination of eligibility from HMRC. So far over 200,000 parents have secured a place, and the department expects this to continue to rise in the coming weeks.