Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of childcare for children under the age of two.

The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.

In the 2025/26 financial year alone, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements. This is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare.

Since September 2024, eligible parents have been able to access 15 hours of government-funded childcare (over 38 weeks a year) from the term after their child turns 9 months. This will double to 30 hours from September 2025.

The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children.

Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.