Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to help increase the number of childcare providers.

In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the largest ever investment in childcare in England.

Our reforms include:

• Providing over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 to fund 30 hours of free childcare for children over the age of nine months.
• Investing £204 million from September 2023, rising to £288 million in 2024/25 to uplift the rates for existing entitlements.
• Increasing the supply of wraparound care through £289 million start up funding.
• Attracting more people to childminding through an up to £7.2 million start up grant fund.
• Giving providers more flexibility by changing staff:child ratios to 1:5 for two-year-olds in England.
• Launching a consultation on further measures to support reform of the childcare market and further flexibilities for providers.

The department will continue to work closely with the sector on the implementation of these reforms to identify what needs to be in place to support this significant expansion in childcare provision and will set out further details in due course.