Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) families and (b) children who will benefit from the new 30 hours free childcare for three and four-year-olds when it becomes available in September 2017; and what estimate she has made of how many of those children will be (i) increasing their use of formal childcare and (ii) starting to use formal childcare.

We estimate that 390,000 families of three and four-year-olds will receive an additional 15 hours free childcare, saving families who use the full 30 hours, around £5,000 per year in total. Many children are already accessing more than 15 hours of childcare, and 30 hours will reduce the cost of childcare for working parents.

In January 2017, we published a research report exploring parents' views and demand for 30 hours free childcare. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/586231/Parents__views_and_demand_for_30_hour_s_free_childcare_-_RR611.pdf

The findings indicated that of those currently using the 15 free hour entitlement, four out of five (83%) said they would take up the additional 15 free hours if they were available to them now. Of these, 61% said they would use the full 15 hours per week.