Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that early years education is adequately funded on a per capita basis for the lifetime of the Parliament.

The government recognises that it is important that funding for the early education entitlement is fair and sustainable for providers. The government has therefore launched a review of the cost of providing childcare. The objective of this review is to inform decisions on the level of funding that providers require in order to deliver quality childcare provision at good value to the taxpayer and consistent with the government’s fiscal plans.

A call for evidence to inform the review was launched on 15 June and will close on 10 August. This is part of the process of gathering the necessary evidence to inform the review which will report in the autumn. The call for evidence is available online here: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cost-of-providing-childcare-review-call-for-evidence

The Department for Education regularly speaks to Her Majesty’s Treasury about all aspects of funding for early years.