Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to increase the funding rate for the 15 hours of free childcare for 3 and 4 years olds.

In the 2021 Spending Review, the department announced additional funding for early years of £160 million in 2022/23, £180 million in 2023/24 and £170 million in 2024/25, compared to the 2021/22 financial year.

The department has recently announced that we will invest an additional £20 million into early years funding in 2023/24, on top of the additional £180 million for 2023/24 announced in the Spending Review. Taken together, this will help support providers at a national level with the additional National Living Wage costs associated with delivering the free childcare entitlements next year.

With this additional £20 million investment, in 2023/24 local authorities are set to receive average funding increases of 3.4% for the 3- and 4-year-old free childcare entitlements and 4% for the 2- year-old entitlement, compared to their 2022/23 rates.

The department will increase the Early Years Pupil Premium, which for 2023/24 will provide up to £353 per eligible child per year to support better outcomes for disadvantaged 3- and 4-year- olds, and also the Disability Access Fund, which will be worth at least £828 per eligible 3 – 4-year-old child per year. We will also be investing an additional £10 million into Maintained Nursery School supplementary funding from 2023/24.