Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Free childcare to be extended to foster carers for the first time, published on 21 June 2018, whether he has made a revised estimate of the total forecast expenditure on the provision of 30 hours of free childcare for 3 and 4-year-olds in each of the next three financial years.

Extending 30 hours free childcare to children in foster care for the first time, marks a significant step forward in improving the support available for foster families who work, allowing them to take up the additional 15 hours of free childcare already available to other working parents since September 2017.

This change is to enable those foster parents who are in paid work outside their role as a foster parent to access this support, where it is right for the child. So, it will not be appropriate for every child in foster care and we expect the uptake from foster parents to be small.

We will fund local authorities for all eligible children accessing 30 hours, including those children in foster care accessing 30 hours, based on the January census in the usual way. All costs will be met through existing budgets.