Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children entered a grace period for 30 hours of free childcare; and what the average length was of grace periods during the September 2017 term.

Parents who fall out of eligibility are able to retain their childcare place for a short period, known as the grace period. A parent enters their grace period if they are found ineligible when reconfirming their details (every three months), or if they forget to reconfirm in time. In the case of the latter, this can mean that a parent is only in their grace period for a matter of days before successfully reconfirming. These parents do not lose their 30 hours place at the end of their grace period. Some parents who enter their grace period will successfully regain employment before they lose their childcare place.

Therefore, the number of children who entered their grace period during a term changes on a daily basis, and as such, the total number of children who have entered a grace period is not meaningful.