Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which local authorities have returned childcare grant funding to the Exchequer in each of the last five financial years.

Funding to local authorities for the early years entitlement for two, three and four-year-olds is made via the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). In the last five years, the Department has not recovered money allocated through DSG from any local authority.

Prior to April 2013, funding for the entitlement for two-year olds was paid to local authorities through the Early Intervention Grant and no money allocated by this means was recovered by the Department.