Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an estimate of the affordability of childcare provision in Warrington North constituency.

The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. Ofsted data currently shows that the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register has remained broadly stable at 1.3 million places since August 2015.

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. At present, Warrington North constituency, which is covered by Warrington local authority, are reporting that they are fulfilling their duty to ensure sufficient childcare.

The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare. 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 for Warrington local authority shows that the mean hourly fee band for 2-year-old children and for 3 and 4-year-olds in 2021 is £4.75.