Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the 30 hours free childcare policy on nursery school budgets.

Maintained nursery schools make a valuable contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children. The effect of the 30 hours entitlement on their budgets will depend on the extent to which they are directly involved in delivery of the entitlement and the take up of the entitlement by parents in the local area.

Maintained nursery schools can choose to offer the 30 hours entitlement themselves, as can all early years providers. However, if they cannot or do not want to offer the whole entitlement themselves, we would encourage them to consider a range of options for being involved in the delivery of the 30 hours entitlement, including working in partnership with other providers.