Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities which do not have sufficient childcare places in their area for children aged between 0 and 5 years old.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the Early Education and Childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to 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 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.
The department monitors take up of the early years entitlements through the annual census and publishes the results at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out how an effective single national SEND and AP system will be delivered. Many of the proposals in the improvement plan will include early years education, including the funding we are providing to train up to 5,000 early years Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinators (SENCOs) to gain an accredited Level 3 Early Years SENCO qualification.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities which do not have sufficient childcare places in their area for children aged between 0 and 14.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the Early Education and Childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to 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 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.
The department monitors take up of the early years entitlements through the annual census and publishes the results at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out how an effective single national SEND and AP system will be delivered. Many of the proposals in the improvement plan will include early years education, including the funding we are providing to train up to 5,000 early years Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinators (SENCOs) to gain an accredited Level 3 Early Years SENCO qualification.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, (a) what arrangements her Department has in place to help ensure that schools and mulit-academy trusts who have entered PFI contracts for school buildings remain able to afford interest payments on those contracts and (b) what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of those arrangements in the context of rising inflation and interest rates.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All private finance initiative (PFI) schools contracts have been entered into by either local authorities or the Secretary of State for Education. PFI schools contracts include an interest rate hedge which is agreed at the point of contract signature to secure a fixed rate of borrowing until contract expiry. This means that the payments made to the PFI contractor do not fluctuate as interest rates change.
An element of the payment owing to PFI contractors is typically index linked but the impact of rising inflation is not an issue that is unique to PFI contracts.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Government consultation on the Lifelong Loan Entitlement launched on 24 February 2022, when she will (a) publish her response to that consultation and (b) implement an Alternative Finance Product.
Answered by Robert Halfon
On 6 May 2022, the department concluded the consultation on the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) as part of our planned pathway to delivery from 2025. This consultation, and other ongoing sector engagement, is a critical part of delivering a transformation of student finance. The department is carefully considering the contributions and will publish the response in due course.
The department remains committed to delivering an Alternative Student Finance (ASF) product compatible with Islamic finance principles, and work has started to assess how we can ultimately deliver an ASF product alongside the LLE. The department will provide a further update on ASF as part of our response to the LLE consultation.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether she plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace the Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) Regulations 2016.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) Regulations 2016 were amended on 12 November 2021, to ensure that Swiss nationals and nationals from the European Economic Area (EEA) who have a pending application for leave to enter or remain in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme, or who have an outstanding appeal or applied late, are still eligible to apply for the 30 hours free early education entitlement. Parents with EEA or Swiss nationality who have indefinite leave to remain in the UK are also eligible to apply for 30 hours free early education entitlement.
These regulations were consolidated in December 2022, as the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022. This can be accessed here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/1134/contents/made.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, what plans she has to (a) replace, (b) revoke or (c) retain the Children (Protection at Work) Regulations 1998.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department is responsible for a very small number of pieces of Retained EU Law (REUL) and is working closely with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to support the passage through Parliament of the REUL (Revocation and Reform) Bill and the associated BEIS-led programme of REUL repeal and reform.
The department is in the process of analysing and assessing what should be preserved as part of domestic law, and what should be repealed or amended. In doing so we will ensure that children continue to be safeguarded in employment.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many registered early years settings have submitted notifications of (a) permanent and (b) temporary partial closures of the setting in the academic year 2021-22.
Answered by Brendan Clarke-Smith
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member for Walthamstow, and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many registered early years settings have submitted notifications of (a) permanent and (b) temporary complete closure of the setting in the academic year 2021-22.
Answered by Brendan Clarke-Smith
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member for Walthamstow, and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children with no recourse to public funds are eligible for free school meals in (a) England (b) London and (c) Waltham Forest.
Answered by Will Quince
National level data on the number of children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and who attracted pupil premium funding, under what was previously a temporary extension of free school meal eligibility to some no recourse to public funds (NRPF) households, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2022-to-2023.
Due to the low number of FSM eligible children from NRPF households, the department is unable to provide the breakdown of figures requested, to protect these pupils from being identified.
When FSM eligibility was permanently extended to pupils from all households with NRPF in April 2022, the department ran a claims process which allowed schools to claim additional pupil premium funding for the 2022/23 financial year for pupils that had become eligible. This information will be captured in a subsequent data release.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Sutton Trust report entitled A fair start: Equalising access to early education, published 19 August 2021, what assessment he has made of the effect of not being able to access 30 hours of Government funded childcare on the development of children from low-income families.
Answered by Will Quince
All 3 and 4 year olds, as well as some disadvantaged 2 year olds, in England are eligible for 15 hours free childcare. This provides them with high-quality early education and helps to prepare them for school.
Working parents of 3 and 4 year olds can access an additional 15 hours (‘30 hours’) free childcare, helping them with the cost of childcare and supporting parents back into work, or to work more hours if they wish to. To be eligible, parents must earn the equivalent of at least 16 hours a week at national minimum/living wage (for parents aged over 23, this is equivalent to just over £7,400 per year), and under £100,000 per year. The government currently has no plans to extend this scheme.
There is no analysis available that compares children who access 30 hours free childcare with those who do not. However, findings from the department’s longitudinal Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) suggests that by age 5, greater use of formal group childcare (average hours per week) between age 2 and the start of school was associated with some negative effects on socio-emotional well-being and development in school year 1. SEED is our best evidence source for early years education.
A range of factors affect a child's development, including their wider learning environment. This could include, for example, their home learning environment.