Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on free childcare of the Childcare and early years survey of parents, published on 27 July 2023.

The 2021 Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents survey findings, particularly around existing use of childcare and the availability of childcare as a barrier to work, were a key input into modelling that informed the policy decision to expand funded early education childcare entitlements for working parents.

The 2022 survey statistics provide a robust baseline and future surveys will be used to monitor and evaluate impacts following the Spring Budget 2023 announcements.

The survey is nationally representative, representing the views of around 6,000 parents with children aged 0-14 in England. It collects detailed information on parents' changing use of childcare, on their awareness of government support for childcare, on their opinions of the availability, affordability and quality of childcare in their local area, and how childcare affects their likelihood of working.