Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the Government's strategy is for nursery schools.

Maintained nursery schools make a very important contribution to social mobility as a result of their being primarily based in deprived areas. That is why, as we introduce new funding arrangements in the early years, we are providing local authorities with supplementary funding of £55 milion a year for maintained nursery schools for at least two years to maintain their stability. This maintains their current funding, and is part of our record investment in childcare – £6 billion per year by 2020. We will work in partnership with providers and consult the sector, including on what happens after this period, in due course.