Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government is taking steps to increase support for parents through (a) improvements in state funded childcare provision, (b) expanding and improving flexible working and (c) improvements to maternity and paternity leave.

The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare. We have spent more than £20 billion over the last five years to support families with the cost of childcare, and thousands of parents are benefitting from government childcare support.

To support public sector providers in particular, the department has announced an additional investment of £10 million into Maintained Nursery School supplementary funding from 2023/24, and are consulting on proposals to create a fairer distribution of this funding. This is on top of the increase in 2022/23, where the department has increased the Maintained Nursery School supplementary hourly funding rate by 3.5%, equivalent to the increase in the 3 and 4-year-old hourly funding rates. The department has also confirmed the continuation of Maintained Nursery School supplementary funding throughout the spending review period, providing the sector with long-term certainty.

The government’s response to its consultation on flexible working set out our position on expanding and improving flexible working. We have committed to make the right to request flexible working a day-one right, require employers to consult with employees before rejecting their requests, enable employees to make two flexible working requests a year and speed up the decision period. These measures will be taken forward through regulations and through the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill.

Regarding Maternity and Paternity Leave, our Maternity Leave entitlement is generous, qualifying employed women are offered 52 weeks of maternity leave, of which 39 weeks are paid. This is more than three times the EU minimum requirement. As set out in our Manifesto, the government is committed to making it easier for fathers to take paternity leave.