Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.15 of the Spring Budget 2024, HC 560, whether the estimated additional £500 million of funding for childcare support is the same funding included within the funding envelope in Table 4.1 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC 1183.

The Spring Budget announcement confirms how the department will uplift costs in future years. The department will use average earnings growth and National Living Wage to forecast how staff costs are changing for providers and CPI (a general measure of inflation) to forecast how non-staff costs will change.

By the 2027/28 financial year, this 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 single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.

The estimated £500 million for 2025/26 and 2026/27, represents the additional cost of increasing funding rates, in line with these metrics and based on current forecasts, compared to if funding rates were kept at 2024/25 levels. A portion of this funding is reflected in the totals announced for the new entitlements at Spring Budget 2023 (and in table 4.1 referenced), which applied the same approach to uplifting funding rates as has been confirmed for 2025/26 and 2026/27 this week. Access to table 4.1 can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6419c87d8fa8f547c267efca/Web_accessible_Budget_2023.pdf.