Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the (a) capacity and (b) preparedness of early years providers to safely care for babies under 12 months in the context of the expansion of funded childcare.

The department’s priority is to grow high-quality education and care for children, whilst ensuring their safety, in order to give every child the best start in life. We continually monitor and review safeguarding requirements for early years settings to make sure children are kept as safe as possible.

In September 2025, subject to parliamentary procedure the department will be introducing changes to the safeguarding requirements of the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework which all early years settings must follow. The framework can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.

This includes requirements which will help keep babies under 12 months as safe as possible, such as a new safer eating section, which includes a requirement to have ongoing discussions with parents and/or carers in regard to introducing solid foods.

Last year, in collaboration with The Lullaby Trust the department produced safer sleep guidance which is available on the Foundation Years, which can be accessed here: https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/2024/09/safer-sleeping-practices-for-early-years-educators/. This covers a variety of areas including sleeping products which are not suitable for babies, suitable sleeping surfaces for babies and safe use of blankets.

The department also produced guidance with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children on supporting distressed babies, available at: https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/2025/01/responding-to-babies-cries-a-guide-for-early-years-educators/, and the importance of positive interactions on baby brain development, available at: https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/2025/01/the-importance-of-positive-interactions-on-baby-brain-development/. These support providers with developing enriching relationships with the babies in their settings, by recognising their social cues and responding appropriately.

The department has already seen a strong response from the early years sector following the introduction of the new entitlement, the latest stage of which was the expansion to 15 hours for eligible children under two in September 2024. 2023 to 2024 saw nearly three times the growth in places (44,000 compared to 15,000) and more than 1.5 times the growth in staff (20,000 compared to 13,000) working in early years compared to 2022 to 2023, showing the early years market is responding positively to the demand. Continuing this growth ahead of September 2025 will allow more families to benefit from the expansion.