Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the increase to (a) employer National Insurance contributions and (b) the national living wage on trends in the level of fees paid by parents with children in early education and childcare.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

It is the department’s ambition that parents have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and childcare. ​​This government has had to take some tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, but this government has increased investment in the early years to drive forward progress towards our plan for change target of a record number of children starting school ready to learn.

In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, 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. This is an increase of more than 30% compared to the 2024/25 financial year.

This increase ensures funding for the entitlements, reflects forecasts of average earnings and inflation next year, and also reflects the National Living Wage announced at the Autumn Budget 2024.

The department 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.

We are additionally providing £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance contributions grant for public sector employers in the early years.

From the start of September 2024, eligible working parents have been entitled to 15 hours a week of early education and care from the term after their child turns nine months. So far, over 320,000 additional parents are now accessing a place. Going further, from September 2025, eligible working parents will be able to access 30 hours of early education and childcare a week.

Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare.

The department also wants to ensure that parents are aware of and accessing all government funded childcare support they are eligible for. The department is raising awareness of the government-funded childcare support available via the Childcare Choices campaign to boost children’s life chances and parents’ work choices.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of universally expanding the 30 hours of government funded childcare scheme.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Accessible and high quality early education and childcare is a crucial part of giving every child the best start in life, boosting children’s life chances and giving parents work choices.

The government is committed to delivering the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer, so that from September 2025 eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns nine months old to when they start school. However, this government has been clear that this will be tough to deliver as we inherited a pledge with no plan behind it. That is why the department is doing everything it can, working closely with childcare providers, to deliver the additional places the sector will need from September 2025.

All three and four year-old children are eligible for the universal 15 hours free early education entitlement from the term starting on or after 1 September, 1 January or 1 April following their third birthday.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) assess the take-up levels of the (i) childcare element of Universal Credit and (ii) Flexible Support Fund to pay upfront childcare costs and (b) increase this number.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Universal Credit (UC) childcare element statistics are published quarterly. In the latest month for which data is available (November 2024), 177,000 UC households were paid the UC childcare cost element. In November 2024, 29% of households on Universal Credit with pre-school children and in which all claimants had earnings received the childcare element. For households with any child aged 16 or under, the figure is 13%.  This proportion has remained broadly consistent for around two years. We will continue to monitor this closely.

Take-up of the upfront childcare offer is assessed from monthly data on the number of upfront childcare transactions and their value, compared to an estimated number eligible. This data is shared with operational leaders to support conversations on how to increase take-up.

Recent initiatives to increase take-up of upfront childcare costs awards through the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) include improved internal FSF guidance to work coaches. Imminent changes to Gov.uk and the Childcare Choices websites will highlight support for upfront childcare costs from DWP. We are also finalising the implementation schedule for UC Journal messages to customers with children, highlighting childcare support and the simplification of the application process.

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