Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) fund and (b) ensure adequate provision of (i) facilities and (ii) childcare for children with SEND.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government provides high needs funding for children aged 0-25 with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those in their early years who need childcare. The department is increasing high needs revenue funding, nationally, to over £10.5 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, which will be an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations of high needs funding. The City of York Council is due to receive an allocation of £28.5 million in 2024/25, which is a cumulative increase of 27% per head through the high needs national funding formula, over the three years from 2021/22.
In addition, specifically for those in the early years, the government provides the Disability Access Fund. In the 2024/25 financial year, this will increase to £910 per eligible child per annum, and will be extended to children aged 2 and under. Children aged 2, 3 and 4 years old who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or have an Education, Health and Care plan are also eligible for 15 hours free childcare a week.
The department is also funding training for up to 7,000 early years Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs), resulting in an accredited Level 3 early years SENCO qualification. Some 5,000 practitioners have already registered for the training.
The The SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, sets out how an effective single national SEND and AP system will be delivered. Many of the proposals in the Improvement Plan will have an impact on early years education, and young children with SEND. There will be new national practitioner standards for meeting the needs of children with SEND and identifying their individual needs. There will also be new local SEND and AP Partnerships, strengthened accountability and dashboards, and funding reforms to ensure all settings are able to deliver an inclusive practice for all.
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with SEND, sits with local authorities. The department allocates funding to support authorities to meet this duty and has provided over £1.5 billion of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to close the gender pension gap.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The gender pension gap is a complex issue tied to the labour market, the private pensions system and demographic differences, but one the government takes very seriously. Addressing the gender pensions gap will only be possible through the collective effort of government, employers and industry.
The new State Pension was designed to correct some of the historic unfairness in the previous system, in particular for women. Our reforms are working, under the pre-2016 system women receive 85% of the amount received by men. This is currently 97% under the new State Pension.
Automatic enrolment (AE) has helped millions more women to save into a pension, with pension participation rates among eligible women in the private sector rising from 40% in 2012 to 86% in 2022. The government is committed to build on this success and is making progress on implementing the measures as set out in the 2017 review of AE. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 was introduced into Parliament with government support and provides the necessary powers.
Once implemented, the measures will disproportionately increase the pension saving of lower earners; a woman working part-time earning National Living Wage could see her pension almost double as a result when saving over her career.
Our labour market policies will also help. Working parents will soon be even better supported through the extension of free childcare announced in the Spring budget in 2023. DWP also announced generous additional financial help to encourage and support lead carers of children who are receiving Universal Credit to move into or progress in work.
By 2027-28, the Government will expect to be spending in excess of £8bn every year on free childcare hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
And we are working with stakeholders across government to better understand the challenge of the gender pension gap. In June, DWP published an official measure of this wealth gap, which is currently 35% between men and women shortly before they retire. The wealth gap between men and women who are eligible for automatic enrolment is lower, at 32%.
The publication of an official annual measure will help us track the collective efforts of government, industry and employers to reduce the Gender Pension Gap.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to close the gender pension gap.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The gender pension gap is a complex issue tied to the labour market, the private pensions system and demographic differences, but one the government takes very seriously.
Addressing the gender pensions gap will only be possible through the collective effort of government, employers and industry.
The new State Pension was designed to correct some of the historic unfairness in the previous system, in particular for women. Our reforms are working, under the pre-2016 system women receive 85% of the amount received by men. This is currently 97% under the new State Pension.
Automatic enrolment (AE) has helped millions more women to save into a pension, with pension participation rates among eligible women in the private sector rising from 40% in 2012 to 86% in 2022.
The government is committed to build on this success and is making progress on implementing the measures as set out in the 2017 review of AE. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 was introduced into Parliament with government support and provides the necessary powers.
Once implemented, the measures will disproportionately increase the pension saving of lower earners; a woman working part-time earning National Living Wage could see her pension almost double as a result when saving over her career.
Our labour market policies will also help. Working parents will soon be even better supported through the extension of free childcare announced in the Spring budget in 2023. DWP also announced generous additional financial help to encourage and support lead carers of children who are receiving Universal Credit to move into or progress in work.
By 2027-28, the Government will expect to be spending in excess of £8bn every year on free childcare hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
And we are working with stakeholders across government to better understand the challenge of the gender pension gap. In June, DWP published an official measure of this wealth gap, which is currently 35% between men and women shortly before they retire. The wealth gap between men and women who are eligible for automatic enrolment is lower, at 32%.
The publication of an official annual measure will help us track the collective efforts of government, industry and employers to reduce the Gender Pension Gap.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2024 to Question 12562 on Pre-school Education: Pupil Premium what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of children who will become eligible for the 15 hours childcare entitlement in (a) April and (b) September 2024 that will also be eligible for the Early Years Pupil Premium.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) gives providers additional funding to support disadvantaged children.
EYPP is currently available for 3 and 4 year olds eligible for the early years’ entitlements.
Parents may also get EYPP if their child is currently being looked after by a local authority in England or Wales, or if their child has left care in England or Wales through adoption, special guardianship order or a child arrangement order.
From April 2024, EYPP will be extended to all eligible 2 year olds, and from September 2024 to all eligible children aged 9 months to 3 years old.
On 19 December 2023, the department published indicative EYPP allocations for local authorities for 2024/25 as part of the wider Dedicated Schools Grant publication, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2024-to-2025.
The published tables include estimated numbers of children aged 9 months up to and including 2 year olds who the department anticipates will take up EYPP in 2024/25. This includes estimated part-time equivalents for EYPP.
Further details on how the department has calculated these estimates are set out in the following document: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2024-to-2025/dsg-technical-note-2024-to-2025.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to extend the eligibility criteria for the early years pupil premium to children aged 9 months to three years who receive the 15 hours childcare entitlement in 2024.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The early years pupil premium is currently available for 3 and 4-year-olds eligible for the early years entitlements.
From April 2024, the early years pupil premium will be extended to all eligible 2-year-olds and from September 2024 to all eligible children aged 9-months to 3-year-old accessing the early years entitlements. This will be payable on a maximum of 15 hours per week, or 570 hours per year.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number and proportion of local authorities who have advised their local childcare providers of their hourly rate from 1 April 2024; and what steps she is taking to help ensure that childcare providers have adequate notice to prepare for the expanded roll-out.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The 2024/25 government hourly funding rates for all the early years entitlements for individual local authorities were announced on 29 November 2023 to reflect the funding uplifts and the national living wage increase.
The department is in close communication with local authorities and recognises the need to ensure childcare providers have early confirmation of their early years funding rates for 2024/25. The department now anticipates that all local authorities will have confirmed funding rates that come into force from 1 April 2024 no later than the end of February 2024.
As of 31 January 2024, the department can confirm that over 40 local authorities in England have published their final funding rates for providers. Where local authorities have not yet published the final rates, the vast majority have provided indicative rates to their providers to support in their business planning.
On 2 February 2024, the department also took steps to provide greater funding certainty to nurseries and childcare providers going forwards. Each year, the government sets out funding rates in the autumn, to take effect in the following financial year. A window, likely to be 8 weeks, will be introduced, within which local authorities have to confirm rates, after the point the department announces local authority hourly rates. The department will work with the sector in the coming weeks to finalise the approach.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of eligible two year olds received free funded early education in each year between 2019 and 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Data relating to government-funded early education and childcare is published in the annual ‘Education provision: children under 5 years of age’ statistical release which is available on the GOV.UK website at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5.
The figures requested can be found at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/941bcc65-3f3a-4cc8-9712-08dc1cb7c782.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to allow parents to claim funded hours for their child if they are cared for by a registered childminder who is also a member of their extended family.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Childminders are a key part of the childcare market and they will play a significant part in the government’s increased early years entitlements offer.
Funding made available in the dedicated schools grant (DSG) for the entitlements to early education for two, three and four-year-olds cannot be claimed by, or spent on, childminders providing childcare for related children. This restriction is placed on local authorities funding relatives and is set out in the Childcare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) Section 18(4)(c). The 2006 Act specifically excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative, and section 18(8)(c) of the 2006 Act states that a relative, in relation to a child, means ‘a grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother or sister, whether of the full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership’.
This approach avoids creating an incentive for adults to register to become childminders and being paid to look after related children that they are already looking after on an informal basis.
A local authority can choose to fund a childminder providing care for a related child. However, this would have to be from the local authority funds that are independent of the DSG.
In the case of a nursery or pre-school, the funding is not necessarily paid to an individual who is caring for a relative, but to the setting which provides early education to a group of children, which may include a child related to a member of staff.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a list of local authorities with sufficient childcare places to deliver (a) 15 hours of funded childcare for two-year-olds from April 2024 and (b) 30 hours of funded childcare for two-year-olds from September 2024.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare meets the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the 'Early education and childcare' statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. This guidance is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.
Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of childcare places in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, the Chancellor announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency is within the area covered by Blackpool Council.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.
If Blackpool Council report any sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues, and where needed, supports them with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.
The department does not hold data for the number of childcare providers that have either opened or closed in the Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency, specifically, or by individual years.