Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the resilience of childcare providers in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency; and if he will make a statement.

One of the signs of a healthy and competitive market is that childcare providers may enter and exit it. The key measure of market health monitored by the department is whether local authorities believe that the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children in their area, rather than whether changes occur in the number and type of providers.

Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The parliamentary constituency of Lancaster and Fleetwood is in the local authority of Lancashire. At present, all local authorities, including Lancashire, report that they are fulfilling their duty to ensure sufficient childcare.

The department continues to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and to encourage families to use the government-funded support that they are entitled to. We collect data on the main characteristics of childcare and early years provision in England and fees data can be broken down to local authority level.

The latest data shows that the mean hourly fee band for Lancashire local authority is £4.50 for 2-year-olds and £4.75 for 3 and 4-year-olds.