Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Ofsted-registered early years providers have ceased operating in England in each of the past three calendar years, broken down by region and local authority; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the funding framework for 30 hours of free childcare on those closures.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2026/27, the department expects 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, as we have successfully rolled-out the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.
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, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. The department does not hold data on waiting lists. No local authorities have reported to us that they do not have sufficient childcare places.
For Ofsted data on Ofsted-registered early years providers who have left the Early Years Register, by region and local authority, please see attached table. The data shows that there has been a slow-down in providers leaving the market.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the average amount of extra charges paid by parents who claim 30 hours of free childcare; and what steps they are taking to enforce guidance that prevents providers from making mandatory charges a condition of accessing free hours of childcare.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
As part of the childcare experience survey and the childcare and early years survey of parents, parents who claim 30 hours childcare are asked to indicate any additional charges they pay to their provider. The survey does not ask whether paying the fixed charges is conditional for taking up a place.
The department has recently updated statutory guidance for local authorities. This guidance reinforces that there must be no mandatory charges. The statutory guidance is clear that there must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the free hours. We explain in the statutory guidance that while providers can charge for consumables, food and optional extra activities, as well as additional hours beyond the entitlements, that these must be voluntary for the parent. We furthermore provide a non-exhaustive list of items and services that providers cannot charge for.
Local authorities are empowered to ensure that providers follow this guidance through their provider agreements. How that will be enforced is a matter for the local authority to decide.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce an auto-enrolment system for all children eligible for free school meals.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We want to make sure that every family that needs support can access it.
The government is introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals so that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals from September 2026. This will make it easier for parents to know whether their children are entitled to receive free meals. This new entitlement will mean over 500,000 of the most disadvantaged children will begin to access free meals, lifting 100,000 children out of poverty and putting £500 per child back in families’ pockets.
We are also rolling out improvements to the Eligibility Checking System, the digital portal currently used by local authorities to verify if a child meets the eligibility criteria for free lunches. Giving parents and schools access will accelerate eligibility checks, making it easier to check if children are eligible for free meals.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) total number, and (2) percentage, of parents eligible for 30 hours of free childcare who have not used those hours in the most recent period for which data is available; and what assessment they have made of the main reason for non-take up of the entitlement, including lack of local capacity or administrative complexity.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
As of January 2025, 1.7 million eligible children were registered for childcare entitlements. This includes the number of 3 and 4 year-olds registered for the universal entitlement, the number of children aged 9 months to 2 years registered for the working parent entitlement, and the number of 2 year-olds registered for early learning for two year-olds entitlement. Additional take up statistics for early years entitlements can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025.
Furthermore, the Childcare Experience Survey explores some of the reasons that parents do not take up entitlements, though this does not cover the latest expansion to 30 hours from 9 months.
The department remains committed to improving awareness of and access to the early years' entitlements.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current staff turnover rate for qualified early years educators in England; and what steps they plan to take to address the disparity between median early years sector wages and the average starting salary for a primary school teaching assistant with equivalent qualifications.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The ‘Childcare and early years providers survey: 2025’ shows turnover rate for all early years educators in private group-based providers is 16% and 7% in school-based providers. Estimated turnover rates have fallen for both provider types. Fieldwork for the survey was carried out between May and July 2025.
In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion, more than doubling the government’s commitment to funded childcare and reflects above inflation increases to both funding rates and National Living Wage.
Early education is delivered by a mixed market, the majority of which are private, voluntary and independent provision who set their own rates of pay. Hourly pay increased by 8.2% at school-based providers and by 6.3% at group-based providers against a backdrop of a 6.7% increase in the national living wage between 2024 and 2025.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authority areas currently have a shortfall of funded places for 30 hours of free child care to meet local demand; what is the average reported waiting list time in months for a full-time funded place in the ten worst affected areas; and what target date has been set for ensuring enough funded places are available in all areas.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years' entitlements. This will more than double annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government funded childcare for working parents.
We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life. The first phase of the programme is creating up to 6,000 new nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 have been made available from September 2025.
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, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and. Where needed we will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. The department does not hold data on waiting lists. No local authorities have reported to us that they do not have sufficient childcare places.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average hourly rate paid to early years providers for the 30 hours of free childcare entitlement in this financial year; and what detailed analysis they have carried out to compare that rate to the median hourly cost of childcare delivery for a child aged 3–4 years old in the private, voluntary and independent sector.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2025/26, the average rate per hour that the department pays to local authorities is £11.54 for under 2s, £8.53 for 2-year olds, and £6.12 for 3-and-4-year olds although this will vary by local authorities to reflect how costs vary across the country. Local authorities then use local formulae to determine the rate they pay to providers and there is a statutory duty that at least 96% (rising to 97% in 2026/27) is passed onto providers.
To inform decisions on the rate at which early years providers are funded for delivering entitlements, the department uses an analytical model which uses data from the early years census and the survey of childcare and early years providers, a large-scale and robust survey on the childcare market in England, sampling over 9,000 providers. It also considers various government forecasts such as AEG and CPI and factors in the national living wage to determine cost pressures for the early years sector.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether children living in households affected by the benefit cap experience (1) higher levels of school absenteeism, (2) reduced educational attainment, and (3) disrupted schooling.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department recognises the impact of disadvantage on children’s outcomes. The disadvantage gap in attainment at both primary and secondary remains high and persistent. We also know that children eligible for free school meals (FSM) have substantially higher absence rates.
Every child and young person should have the opportunity to achieve and thrive at school, no matter who they are or where they are from, and schools receive the pupil premium grant, worth over £3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils.
Our Child Poverty Strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030, including through the expansion of FSM, which will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament and put £500 back in families’ pockets. Providing disadvantaged children with a free lunchtime meal will lead overall to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current arrangements for funded early years childcare; whether they regard the level of that funding to be sufficient to ensure an affordable and sustainable supply of places for single parents; and how those funding levels take account of the additional reliance single parents may have on formal childcare if they are to remain in work.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2026/27, we expect 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, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.
This government continues to prioritise and protect investment in the early years, which is why we are investing over £1 billion more in the early years entitlements next year compared to 2025/26 to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements, and an above inflation increase to entitlements funding rates.
The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. We have regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.
Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between any reduction in the provision of childcare and employment outcomes for single parents; and whether areas experiencing a reduction in childcare provision have seen any corresponding changes in single-parent labour market participation.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2026/27, we expect 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, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government-funded childcare for all working parents.
We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life. The first phase of the programme is creating up to 6,000 new nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 having been made available from September 2025.
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, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare.