Lord Bishop of Durham

Our analysis for reporting year ending March 2022 for children in social care shows:

• At Key Stage 2, the percentage of all pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2022 was 59%, compared to 29% for children in social care, also called children in need (CIN), which includes looked-after children.
• At Key Stage 4, the percentage of all pupils achieving grade 5-9 in English and Maths in 2022 was 50%, compared to 12% for CIN pupils.

After accounting for a wide range of factors such as rates of special educational need in these cohorts, children who have interacted with the social care system were around 25-50% less likely to achieve grades 5-9 in GCSE English and Maths, compared to pupils who were not in social care.

The government has put in place a number of measures to support the educational attainment of looked-after children. Every local authority in England must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care, wherever they live or are educated. Looked-after children attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,530 per child up to age 16, which is managed by the Virtual School Head, working with the child’s education setting to deliver objectives in their individual Personal Education Plans.

‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ sets out our strategy to reform the children’s social care system, including improving the education, employment, and training outcomes of children in care and care leavers. The department will introduce a gold standard accreditation scheme for further and higher education institutions supporting care leavers, consult on plans to expand the Virtual School Head role to include children in care and care leavers up to age 25, and roll out a further £24 million in Pupil Premium Plus style funding between 2023 and 2025 to bolster educational support available to children in care and care leavers in 16-19 education.

The Children in Need Review, which concluded in June 2019, identified for the first time that 1.6 million children needed a social worker between 2012 and 2018, and that these children have worse educational outcomes at every stage, with children who need a social worker in their GCSE year being 50% as likely to achieve a strong pass in English and Maths as their peers.

To address this, in June 2021 the department extended Virtual School Head duties to include all children with a social worker, giving them a strategic leadership role to champion the educational attendance, attainment, and progress of children with a social worker. This means that they have a lead role in levelling up educational outcomes for children with a social worker and narrowing the attainment gap, so every child has the opportunity to reach their potential.

We recently announced over £1 billion for programmes to improve early help services from birth to adulthood, including delivering on Family Hubs and helping families facing multiple-disadvantage through the Supporting Families programme and Holiday Activities and Food programme. Investing in support for families helps children to have happy, healthy childhoods. It can stop issues escalating and help them to achieve better outcomes. The Supporting Families Programme has supported over half a million families, to make sustained improvements to their lives, and is projected to help a further 300,000.

In ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, we outlined our plans to build on the strengths of current early help services, through the creation of family help. These reforms are central to ensuring children growing up with loving relationships and stability. The department is creating a service which meets the whole needs of a family and works to their strengths, delivered by multi-disciplinary teams working collaboratively with their local partners. Through the £45 million Families First for Children Pathfinder programme, we will test implementation in up to 12 local areas over two years and help assess requirements to achieve meaningful change system-wide.

The Autumn Statement 2022 announced £26 billion in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable. In 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to a further £900 in Cost-of-Living Payments. A £300 payment will be made to pensioner households and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Also included is the amended Energy Price Guarantee which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24 and raising the benefit cap by 10.1% in line with inflation.

For those who require extra support, the government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.

In addition to this, we are investing over £200 million a year in our Holiday Activities and Food programme. All local authorities in England are delivering this programme and last year we reached more than 600,000 children over the summer.

The government is also continuing support for breakfast clubs and will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas through our national school breakfasts programme. The programme, worth up to £24 million, means that thousands of children will be offered nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness for education throughout 2021/23.

In setting a threshold for Free School Meals, the department believes that the current level, which enables the most disadvantaged children to benefit from FSM while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. The department will continue to keep free school meal (FSM) eligibility under review, ensuring that these meals are supporting those who most need them.

Since 2010, the number of children receiving a free meal at school has increased by more than two million. This is thanks to the introduction of universal infant free school meals, alongside protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive Free School Meals (FSM) in education, compared with one in six in 2010.

The department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low-income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. The department does not have plans to change the current eligibility conditions for FSM, but we will continue to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who need them most. The department continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other government departments to provide support to disadvantaged families.

Since 2010, the number of children receiving a free meal at school has increased by more than two million. This is thanks to the introduction of universal infant free school meals, alongside protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive Free School Meals (FSM) in education, compared with one in six in 2010.

The department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low-income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. The department does not have plans to change the current eligibility conditions for FSM, but we will continue to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who need them most. The department continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other government departments to provide support to disadvantaged families.

The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming free school meals (FSM). This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, over one third of pupils receive a free meal in school.

The department does not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that may be entitled to FSM, but do not make a claim. The most recent estimate is that take-up is around 89% of those who are entitled.

The department wants to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this, we provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. The department has also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.

Following a consultation in May 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 15-hour early education entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds to children in no recourse to public fund (NRPF) households in September 2022.

The department does not hold data on the number of children that are British children with NRPF that are currently in receipt of the two-year old early education entitlement.

All parents are eligible to claim up to 570 hours of free early education per year, which is usually taken as 15 hours per week over 38 weeks of the year. This is available to all three and four-year olds, regardless of family circumstances, including those whose families have no recourse to public funds (NRPF).

Working parents of three and four-year-olds may also be eligible for an additional 15 hours of free childcare, also known as 30 hours free childcare, subject to both minimum and maximum earnings thresholds. Parents must earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum/living wage, currently just over £7,900 per year, and their adjusted net income must be under £100,000.

In a two-parent family both parents must meet these thresholds, unless one partner receives certain benefits (Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance). In a single-parent household the single parent must meet the threshold. Parents with NRPF are not eligible for this entitlement.

The department does not hold data on the number of children whose parents have NRPF who are currently taking up the universal 15 hour early education entitlement. This means it is not possible to ascertain how many would be eligible for the extended 30 hour entitlement were they not subject to NRPF.

Following a consultation in May 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 15 hour early education entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds to children in no recourse to public fund households in September 2022.

However, the department does not hold data on the number of children specifically with no recourse to public funds that are currently in receipt of the two-year-old early education entitlement.

The department does not hold figures on the number of pupils who have been informally excluded from school. Informal exclusions are unlawful and therefore there is no mechanism for recording them.

The government is considering the National Autistic Society School Report 2021, which provides helpful insights into this practice. Further information on this report can be found at: https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/school-report-2021?dm_i=YA3,7MFOP,63DHOU,V1NPQ,1&mc_cid=cd260af2f9&mc_eid=b460e5a1f.

The department makes clear in the ‘Statutory Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions’ guidance that ‘informal’ or ‘unofficial’ suspensions, such as sending pupils home ‘to cool off’, are unlawful, regardless of whether they occur with the agreement of parents or carers. Any suspension of a pupil, even for short periods of time, must be in line with the relevant legislation and be recorded as a suspension.

The department will shortly be consulting on the ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance and the ‘Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions’ guidance. These will equip headteachers to create calm, orderly, safe and supportive school environments where exclusions are only ever used lawfully and as a last resort.

The department does not hold figures on the number of pupils who have been informally excluded from school. Informal exclusions are unlawful and therefore there is no mechanism for recording them.

The government is considering the National Autistic Society School Report 2021, which provides helpful insights into this practice. Further information on this report can be found at: https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/school-report-2021?dm_i=YA3,7MFOP,63DHOU,V1NPQ,1&mc_cid=cd260af2f9&mc_eid=b460e5a1f.

The department makes clear in the ‘Statutory Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions’ guidance that ‘informal’ or ‘unofficial’ suspensions, such as sending pupils home ‘to cool off’, are unlawful, regardless of whether they occur with the agreement of parents or carers. Any suspension of a pupil, even for short periods of time, must be in line with the relevant legislation and be recorded as a suspension.

The department will shortly be consulting on the ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance and the ‘Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions’ guidance. These will equip headteachers to create calm, orderly, safe and supportive school environments where exclusions are only ever used lawfully and as a last resort.

The department does not collect data on all child refugees that are currently in care, but does collect data on the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) who are looked after by local authorities in England. Of the 80,850 children looked after up to 31 March 2021, there were 4,070 UASC, down 20% from the previous year which was 5,060.

Figures on the number of children looked after who were UASC were published recently in the annual statistical release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

Figures on children who were UASC outside England is a matter for the devolved administrations.

The department recognises the contribution it can make to help create a sustainable future through education, developing the skills needed for a green economy, and supporting sectors to reach net zero targets.

Topics relating to climate change are included throughout both the science and geography curricula and in GCSEs. Through the citizenship programmes of study, pupils are taught how to explore political and social issues critically through evidence, debate, and reasoned argument. Pupils are taught that resources can be allocated in different ways and that these economic choices affect individuals, communities, and the sustainability of the environment. A new environmental science A Level was introduced in 2017, which will enable pupils to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it will be tackled.

In further and technical education, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has convened a Green Apprenticeships Advisory Panel to encourage trailblazers to align apprenticeships to net zero and wider sustainability objectives.

The Department for Education and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy launched the Green Jobs Taskforce in November 2020 to help the UK deliver the skilled workforce needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The taskforce, working in partnership with business, skills providers, and unions will develop an action plan to support 2 million good quality, green jobs and the skills needed by 2030, and so support the UK to transition to a net zero economy.

The department is currently working with Her Majesty’s Treasury to contribute to a full response to the Dasgupta Review.

The National Curriculum is a framework which sets out the content that the department expects schools to cover in each subject, but teachers have the flexibility and freedom to determine how they deliver the content in the way that best meets the needs of their pupils. This includes choosing to cover particular topics in greater depth if they wish. Although academies and free schools are not required to teach the National Curriculum, they are expected to teach a curriculum that is similar in breadth and ambition, and this is reflected in the Ofsted school inspection handbook. This can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-eif.

Subject content related to the environment is included within the science and geography National Curriculum. At primary level (key stages 1 and 2), pupils are taught how environments can change, including positive and negative impacts of human action, weather, and climate zones. In secondary science (key stages 3 and 4), pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect that this has on the climate. At GCSE, pupils consider the evidence for anthropogenic causes of climate change. They also study the impact of increased levels of carbon dioxide and methane and how this can be mitigated.

Under the key stage 2 non-statutory guidance for citizenship, pupils are taught about the wider world and the interdependence of communities within it. Pupils are taught that resources can be allocated in different ways and that these economic choices affect individuals, communities and the sustainability of the environment.

In geography, at key stage 2 and 3 pupils should be taught human geography. In key stage 2, pupils are taught about types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water. In key stage 3 pupils are taught about population and urbanisation, international development, economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, and the use of natural resources. These topics can be built upon in more depth at GCSE.

In 2017, the department introduced a new environmental science A level. This enables pupils to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled.

We want to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe, to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. As a result, all schools must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based, and which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

The statutory relationships and health education curriculum includes teaching about mental wellbeing. The topic covers how to talk about emotions accurately and sensitively, the benefits and importance of physical exercise and community activities on mental wellbeing and happiness, and where and how to seek support if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing. A significant contribution towards developing primary school children’s social, emotional and spiritual development is also made by school ethos, effective relationships throughout the school.

The department has committed £1.7 billion additional funding to date to help pupils recover from the recent disruption they have experienced: £1 billion in June 2020, including a £650 million premium for schools, and a further £700 million in February 2021 to provide additional funding through a Recovery Premium, summer schools, expansion of tutoring programmes and early language support.

This new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary and secondary schools, building on the Pupil Premium, will be provided to schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged pupils. To help schools use this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation has published a support guide for schools with evidence-based approaches to catch up and a further school planning guide, which are available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/national-tutoring-programme/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/#nav-covid-19-support-guide-for-schools1 and https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/guide-to-supporting-schools-planning/.

The guidance is clear that interventions, including those focused on aspects of education such as behaviour or pupils’ social and emotional needs, are likely to be important to support those who have fallen furthest behind. Summer schools can also be effective in improving wellbeing, including through providing a mix of enrichment activities alongside academic content.

We have commissioned a mixed-methods research study that will examine schools’ recovery approaches to lost time in education as a result of COVID-19. This research will deliver an understanding of how schools are assessing the scale of any attainment loss, how the catch-up funding is being used, and the approaches schools are taking to catch pupils up – alongside any barriers/success factors to these approaches. The study will also assess how schools are helping pupils recover from any wellbeing or behavioural loss that may have occurred as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

To provide further support during the autumn and spring terms, the department has worked with our partners, the Department of Health and Social Care, Health Education England, Public Health England and key voluntary sector organisations, to launch Wellbeing for Education Return. This project, backed by £8 million, will train local experts to provide additional training, advice and resources to schools and colleges to help support pupil and student wellbeing, resilience and recovery.

We want to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe, to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. As a result, all schools must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based, and which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

The statutory relationships and health education curriculum includes teaching about mental wellbeing. The topic covers how to talk about emotions accurately and sensitively, the benefits and importance of physical exercise and community activities on mental wellbeing and happiness, and where and how to seek support if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing. A significant contribution towards developing primary school children’s social, emotional and spiritual development is also made by school ethos, effective relationships throughout the school.

The department has committed £1.7 billion additional funding to date to help pupils recover from the recent disruption they have experienced: £1 billion in June 2020, including a £650 million premium for schools, and a further £700 million in February 2021 to provide additional funding through a Recovery Premium, summer schools, expansion of tutoring programmes and early language support.

This new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary and secondary schools, building on the Pupil Premium, will be provided to schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged pupils. To help schools use this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation has published a support guide for schools with evidence-based approaches to catch up and a further school planning guide, which are available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/national-tutoring-programme/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/#nav-covid-19-support-guide-for-schools1 and https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/guide-to-supporting-schools-planning/.

The guidance is clear that interventions, including those focused on aspects of education such as behaviour or pupils’ social and emotional needs, are likely to be important to support those who have fallen furthest behind. Summer schools can also be effective in improving wellbeing, including through providing a mix of enrichment activities alongside academic content.

We have commissioned a mixed-methods research study that will examine schools’ recovery approaches to lost time in education as a result of COVID-19. This research will deliver an understanding of how schools are assessing the scale of any attainment loss, how the catch-up funding is being used, and the approaches schools are taking to catch pupils up – alongside any barriers/success factors to these approaches. The study will also assess how schools are helping pupils recover from any wellbeing or behavioural loss that may have occurred as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

To provide further support during the autumn and spring terms, the department has worked with our partners, the Department of Health and Social Care, Health Education England, Public Health England and key voluntary sector organisations, to launch Wellbeing for Education Return. This project, backed by £8 million, will train local experts to provide additional training, advice and resources to schools and colleges to help support pupil and student wellbeing, resilience and recovery.

Our immediate objective is to ensure that critical workers have the childcare that they need to do their jobs during this crisis and that vulnerable children have access to early years provision.

Maintaining a healthy childcare market in the longer term is also crucially important, which is why the government will continue to pay for free early years entitlement places from the Dedicated Schools Grant, as well as ensuring early years providers have access to other government support schemes for businesses whose operations have been severely affected by COVID-19.

Further information on the support available is included in the guidance ‘Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus outbreak’ which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.

The government has committed to developing a new strategy for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in 2019. This strategy will provide a shared vision and common aims for all publicly funded ESOL.

As per the response provided by my noble Friend, Baroness Williams of Trafford, during the debate on 23 July, decisions around recourse to public funds are made by the Home Office.

Free school meals are available to disadvantaged families in receipt of certain qualifying benefits, including children of immigrants and refugees who are receiving support under Part VI of the Immigration & Asylum Act (1999).

The Home Office is able to exercise discretion to grant recourse to public funds where the family would otherwise be destitute. Where this entitles the family to receive certain benefits, they may also be able to claim free school meals.

We have noted the findings of the report published by the Education Policy Institute. We are already working with the sector on a number of the issues highlighted in their report. In March 2017, we published the attached early years workforce strategy, the government's plans to support employers to attract, retain and develop early years staff to deliver high quality provision: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy. As a result of the strategy, we have worked with sector stakeholders to develop criteria for new more robust level 2 qualifications, considered how the gender diversity of the workforce can be improved, as well as developing new career pathways information to support careers advice, recruitment and staff development: https://www.cache.org.uk/media/1417/dfe-career-pathway-map-v17.pdf. The career pathways map is attached.

We are supporting employer trailblazer groups to develop new apprenticeship standards for the early years workforce and have announced a £20 million investment in professional development and training for early years practitioners in pre-reception settings in disadvantaged areas.

Employers in the early years sector are responsible for setting the pay and conditions for their employees, within the statutory requirements set by government (for example, national minimum wage).

The government has commissioned an independent evaluation of the first year of delivery, which will be published in summer 2018. As with the evaluations of early implementation and early rollout, we will use the evidence from this report to inform future delivery.

The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and other times during the school day, including that available through breakfast clubs, tuck shops, mid-morning breaks, vending machines and after school clubs. The standards severely restrict the consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality re-formed or re-constituted foods.

The continuing provision of free school meals (FSM) to children from households that are out of work or on low incomes is of the utmost importance to the government. FSM mean these children receive a healthy, nutritious meal, which their families may not otherwise be able to afford, and help to ensure they are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits, and can concentrate and learn in school. The department’s new criteria for FSM eligibility, will increase the number of children eligible for this vital benefit.

The government is currently considering the School Holidays (Meals and Activities) Bill, which addresses this issue, and will be responding in due course.

The National Fostering Stocktake report will be published in the New Year.

The department expects to publish the government’s response to the National Fostering Stocktake in Spring 2018.

The Government is committed to creating a world class technical education system and we are making progress on delivering the recommendations made by the Independent Panel on Technical Education, chaired by Lord Sainsbury.

In October, we published the attached ‘Post-16 technical education reforms: T level action plan – October 2017’, in which we outlined in more detail our plans for implementation. We announced the introduction of T levels in three routes in 2020 – Digital, Construction and Education & Childcare – with the remaining eight routes launched in two waves in September 2021 and 2022. We expect the first T levels to be delivered by a small number of providers initially and we will begin engaging with providers later this year.

We want every student studying a T level to undertake a substantial work placement. In September 2017 we launched a work placement pilot scheme to test different models and approaches to delivering T level placements. 21 providers are piloting these in academic year 2017/18, working with a range of employers and approximately 2500 students. This includes a pilot scheme in the North East at Sunderland College, information of which can be found on their website: http://sunderlandcollege.ac.uk/2017/10/college-pilots-government-project/.

We will launch a public consultation on T levels later this year.

The number of places, and therefore staff, required to deliver 30 hours will depend on a variety of factors, including existing take up of additional childcare outside the current free entitlement. Many working families with three-and four-year olds already use more than 15 hours of childcare so many of the required childcare places already exist. There is also existing spare capacity in the system to help deliver the new entitlement.

Local authorities continue to be required to secure sufficient childcare, and therefore staff to fulfil those places in line with ratio requirements, as far as is reasonably practicable, for working parents or parents who are studying or training for employment, for children aged 0-14 (or up to 18 for disabled children).

In March, the Department published an early years workforce strategy, which set out a number of measures to support the sector to recruit, retain and develop staff. This included announcing that to support recruitment, from 3 April 2017 the English and maths qualification requirements for level 3 Early Years Educators would be broadened out to include other suitable level 2 qualifications, including functional skills.

We continue to support growth and the creation of new places to deliver the 30 hours funded entitlement. In 2016, we ran a £50 million early years capital bid round, for which local authorities, in partnership with providers, were invited to submit bids. This investment will create almost 9,000 additional places for eligible children to help meet demand. We are now going even further, making additional investment through the same capital bid round that will support even more providers to deliver 30 hours.

The number of places, and therefore staff, required to deliver 30 hours will depend on a variety of factors, including existing take up of additional childcare outside the current free entitlement. Many working families with three-and four-year olds already use more than 15 hours of childcare so many of the required childcare places already exist. There is also existing spare capacity in the system to help deliver the new entitlement.

Local authorities continue to be required to secure sufficient childcare, and therefore staff to fulfil those places in line with ratio requirements, as far as is reasonably practicable, for working parents or parents who are studying or training for employment, for children aged 0-14 (or up to 18 for disabled children).

In March, the Department published an early years workforce strategy, which set out a number of measures to support the sector to recruit, retain and develop staff. This included announcing that to support recruitment, from 3 April 2017 the English and maths qualification requirements for level 3 Early Years Educators would be broadened out to include other suitable level 2 qualifications, including functional skills.

We continue to support growth and the creation of new places to deliver the 30 hours funded entitlement. In 2016, we ran a £50 million early years capital bid round, for which local authorities, in partnership with providers, were invited to submit bids. This investment will create almost 9,000 additional places for eligible children to help meet demand. We are now going even further, making additional investment through the same capital bid round that will support even more providers to deliver 30 hours.