Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the capacity of childcare providers in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes to meet demand for free childcare from September 2025.

Local authorities are legally responsible for securing sufficient childcare to meet the needs of parents in their area, under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006. The Early Education and Childcare Statutory Guidance (Part B) further requires them to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting this duty and to make these reports accessible to parents.

The department provides local authorities with a range of tools and data to complement local assessments and help them plan strategically for sufficiency. This includes:

• National-level modelling of childcare usage and workforce needs, using data from Ofsted-registered providers and national surveys.
• Estimates of future demand, including the impact of population growth and housing development.
• Indicative forecasts of the number of places and staff required to meet the expanded entitlements rolling out through to September 2025.

There are over 5,800 more providers delivering childcare entitlements than last year, the first increase in five years, and the biggest increase since data became available in 2018. This comes alongside an 18,000 increase in the number of staff delivering the entitlements in private, voluntary and independent providers. This is backed by significant government investment totalling over £8 billion for early years entitlements in 2025/26.