Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will bring forward plans to provide immediate financial support to help families meet childcare costs.

In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this government expects to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping families with pre-school children with their childcare costs.

This is the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever and so it is right that we make sure the workforce and the sector are ready for the changes that are coming. The department anticipates rolling out the expansion to entitlements as follows: 15 hours for eligible working parents of 2-year-olds from April 2024, 15 hours for eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to 24 months from September 2024, and a full 30 hours for eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to two years from September 2025. The department is phasing implementation in this way to allow the market to develop the necessary capacity. Full details can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-unveils-a-budget-for-growth.

In July 2022, the department announced measures to increase take-up of childcare support to ensure that families can access government support to save them money on their childcare bills. This included our £1.2 million Childcare Choices communications campaign to ensure every parent knows about the government funded support they are eligible for.

This department has doubled the entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds to 30 hours and introduced 15 free hours a week for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. On top of this, working parents on Universal Credit may be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs every month.

Parents who sign up to Tax Free Childcare can get a government contribution of £2 for every £8 they deposit into an online childcare account. This is worth up to £2,000 off the cost of their childcare every year, or up to £4,000 if their child is disabled.