Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to increase Government funding for early years providers.

The department has spent over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on its early education entitlements and the government will continue to support families with their childcare costs.

In the 2021 Spending Review, we announced additional funding of £160 million in the 2022/23 financial year, £180 million in the 2023/24 financial year and £170 million in the 2024/25 financial year, compared to the 2021/22 financial year. This is for local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers and reflects cost pressures and changes in the number of eligible children anticipated at the time of the Spending Review.

For the 2022/23 financial year, the department has increased the hourly funding rates for all local authorities by 21p an hour for the 2-year-old entitlement and, for the vast majority of areas, by 17p an hour for the 3 and 4-year-old entitlement.

Over the summer, the department is consulting on proposals to update the formulae used to deliver the early years entitlements funding. This will ensure the funding system remains fair, effective and responsive to changing levels of need across different areas.

The department expects to announce the early years funding rates for local authorities for the 2023/24 financial year in the autumn in the normal way.