Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce the cost of living for working parents.

It is our ambition that families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child, and the work choices for every parent. The evidence is clear that high quality early education and childcare boosts child development, especially for the most disadvantaged children, and makes it easier for parents to work. Through our best start in life strategy, we are ensuring that families across the country can access affordable early education and childcare that supports them to achieve and thrive.

As the government builds a stronger economy with sustainable public finances, it is continuing to invest in the early years sector, supporting the successful delivery of the entitlements. In 2026/27, we are expecting to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24. The successful expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents is saving eligible families using their full entitlement an average of £8,000 per year.

National average funding rate increases continue to reflect forecast cost pressures on the early years sector, including the National Living Wage announced at Autumn Budget 2025, and go further, taking into account the wider workforce pressures felt by the sector since April 2025.

We want to look at how we can make government support simpler for providers and parents, improve access and increase the overall impact for children and families. We will work across government to look at how early education and childcare support provided by government works for families and children. We will be driving take up of the 15-hour entitlements to ensure that disadvantaged children are benefiting, holding local authorities to account for their take up through the Local Government Outcomes Framework to ensure those children and households that stand to benefit the most do so.