Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in (a) Leeds North West constituency and (b) Leeds city region are eligible for 15 hours free childcare.

All three- and four-year-olds are eligible for funded early education. In addition, two-year-olds are eligible for funded early education where their parents meet certain income and benefit related criteria[1].

The Department for Education does not publish data on eligibility at constituency or city-region level, however information can be found on take-up and eligibility for funded early education at local authority level in the Statistical First Release: Provision for children under five years of age in England: January 2015[2]

In January 2015 in Leeds local authority, 4,600 two-year-olds, 10,100 three-year-olds and 10,000 four-year-olds were eligible for funded early education[3].

[1] https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-and-education-for-2-to-4-year-olds

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provision-for-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2015

[3] Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.