Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of new childcare places that will be created through the Childcare Business Grant scheme in 2015-16.

The ‘Childcare Business Grant Scheme’ has been running since 2013 and has so far distributed £1.4 million to new childcare businesses, supporting around 5,000 new child minders. In the Autumn statement it was announced that the scheme will be extended with an additional £2 million made available to new childcare businesses during 2015/16, to help parents access the childcare they need.

The ‘Childcare Business Grant Scheme’ is the responsibility of the Government Equalities Office and they have yet to finalise details of the extension to the scheme. The Department for Education has not yet made any such assessment or estimate of the number of childcare places that will be created.