Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of eligible families who will be able to take advantage of free childcare care hours committed by April.

In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that free childcare would be extended to children of eligible working parents in England from nine months old to support increased parental engagement in the labour market.

The proportion of eligible parents who will take up the new entitlement is provisionally estimated to be around 75% for those with children aged two, around 60% for those with children aged one and around 35% for those with children under the age of one. These estimates are detailed in a policy costing information note, which was published in July 2023. The information note can be found in the attachment.

Data on actual take up of the entitlement for children aged two from April 2024 will be collected via the early years census in January 2025, and published in June or July 2025.