Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of early years settings in (i) Buckinghamshire and (ii) Milton Keynes currently employing at least one early years teacher.

The early years census workforce data provides responses from private, voluntary and independent early years providers delivering funded entitlements to children aged 2 to 4 years of age. Staff holding Early Years Teacher Status, Early Years Professional Status and Qualified Teacher Status are amalgamated as accredited graduate staff members in this dataset. The department does not hold data on the proportion of early years teachers in these areas in other types of early years settings such as school-based nurseries and childminders.

In 2024, 109 providers in Buckinghamshire (29%) and 7 providers in Milton Keynes (4%), delivering 15-hour entitlement, employed at least one accredited graduate staff member.

In 2024, 97 providers in Buckinghamshire (28%) and 6 providers in Milton Keynes (4%), delivering 30-hour entitlement, employed at least one accredited graduate staff member.