Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to identify any additional charges associated with accessing funded childcare; and what steps they are taking to ensure that single parents are not deterred from taking up entitlements for cost reasons.

The department has surveyed providers offering entitlements places and the parents accessing them to understand how the entitlements are being delivered to parents. This includes the use of additional extras and charges associated with entitlement hours.

Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high quality, flexible childcare. The 15 or 30 hours must be able to be accessed free of charge to parents. There must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the free hours. Government funding is not intended to cover the cost of meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services.

A High Court judgment reaffirmed this position and the department subsequently updated its statutory guidance for local authorities last year on the entitlements to provide clarity on the matter for local authorities, providers and parents.