Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to prevent schools removing PVI settings operating on their premises in order to apply for future expansions of the school-based nursery grant.

High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. This government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, including school led provision and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers operating from school sites.

The department continues to work closely with the early years sector to scale the programme effectively. We will use learnings from the first phase of the programme in relation to PVI providers operating from school sites to help inform future phases so any new provision continues to meet the needs of children, parents, and schools, and supports a thriving and diverse market.

The establishing school-based nurseries guidance includes advice about co-location with other providers and was published on 24 October 2024. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/establishing-school-based-nursery-provision/establishing-school-based-nursery-provision.