Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Nuffield Foundation’s study of England’s childcare market, what assessment he has made of whether for-profit private providers meet the needs of disadvantaged children within their services.

The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare. One of the signs of a healthy and competitive market is that a range of providers are able to offer choice and flexibility for parents. 65% of early years childcare places in England are provided by private, voluntary, and independent group-based providers who continue to provide high-quality childcare for families. On disadvantaged two-year-old entitlements, 16,040 out of 22,074 providers that delivered services are in the private, voluntary, and independent sector.

The majority of eligible two, three, and four-year-olds continue to access free childcare, and local authorities are not reporting any substantial sufficiency or place supply issues that they are unable to manage locally. The department has not seen a substantial number of parents saying that they cannot secure a childcare place.

The department continues to engage with sector stakeholders and local authorities to monitor dynamics within local markets, parents' access to government entitlements and the childcare they require, and the sustainability of the sector.