Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what analysis her Department has undertaken on the relationship between early years entitlement funding rates and levels of parental fees charged above entitlement hours.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The early years workforce is at the heart of the government’s mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver our Plan for Change. Our Best Start in Life strategy sets out how we are improving the quality of early education by investing in training and qualifications, increasing understanding of high quality practice and providing more access to proven, evidence-based early years programmes. The latest early years census data reports a 7.2% increase in the number of workers between 2024 and 2025, to 272,500 staff. This represents an increase of 18,200 workers and is the biggest increase we have seen since the data became available in 2018, likely driven by the expanded entitlements.
We know from listening to the sector and our own regular research, that the cost of delivery is highest for younger children due to tighter staffing ratios and, consequently, higher staff costs, as staffing makes up the most significant proportion of provider costs. Our funding rates are set to reflect this with government funding rates for younger children remaining significantly higher than typical parent-paid fees.
For 2026/27, the national average funding rate is £12.04 for under twos, £8.90 for two-year-olds, and £6.42 for three to four-year-olds, compared to average parent-paid fees from last year of £7.18, £7.09, and £6.78 respectively. Combined with the increase in hours through the expansion, these higher funding rates for younger children mean substantially more investment is flowing into the early years sector with an expected £9.5 billion being provide for the early years in 2026-27.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of the indicative early years funding allocations on workforce recruitment and retention in early years settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The early years workforce is at the heart of the government’s mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver our Plan for Change. Our Best Start in Life strategy sets out how we are improving the quality of early education by investing in training and qualifications, increasing understanding of high quality practice and providing more access to proven, evidence-based early years programmes. The latest early years census data reports a 7.2% increase in the number of workers between 2024 and 2025, to 272,500 staff. This represents an increase of 18,200 workers and is the biggest increase we have seen since the data became available in 2018, likely driven by the expanded entitlements.
We know from listening to the sector and our own regular research, that the cost of delivery is highest for younger children due to tighter staffing ratios and, consequently, higher staff costs, as staffing makes up the most significant proportion of provider costs. Our funding rates are set to reflect this with government funding rates for younger children remaining significantly higher than typical parent-paid fees.
For 2026/27, the national average funding rate is £12.04 for under twos, £8.90 for two-year-olds, and £6.42 for three to four-year-olds, compared to average parent-paid fees from last year of £7.18, £7.09, and £6.78 respectively. Combined with the increase in hours through the expansion, these higher funding rates for younger children mean substantially more investment is flowing into the early years sector with an expected £9.5 billion being provide for the early years in 2026-27.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children taking up early years entitlements in 2026-27 in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency are projected to be from households in the bottom two deciles of income distribution.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The latest January 2025 statistics on Funded early education and childcare were published in July here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025.
Figures on the number of children registered for government funded entitlements in Buckinghamshire can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8be865c0-9f87-475e-9475-08de4155ee12.
Statistics from households in the bottom two deciles of income distribution are not readily available, nor are figures at parliamentary constituency level. Statistics for January 2026 have a provisional release date on GOV.UK of July 2026.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has with Mansion House Accord signatories on publishing firm-by-firm assessments of commitments made versus capital deployed.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The organising bodies of the Accord have committed to working with government and regulators to ensure that data demonstrating progress against the Accord will be tracked.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what comparative assessment his Department has made of levels of lending to (a) rural and (b) other businesses.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Bank of England data describes lending to different types of businesses, broken down by business size and sector. It does not provide regional breakdowns, which precludes comparing lending across rural and other businesses.
The British Business Bank (BBB) administers access to finance schemes which support businesses across the UK, including rural businesses.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress his Department has made on the draft Audit and Corporate Governance Reform Bill.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department does not now intend to publish a draft Audit and Corporate Governance Reform Bill in this session of Parliament. Both houses of Parliament were informed of this in July 2025. Priority is being given to measures that reduce administrative costs for business, including through the Department’s work on modernising corporate reporting.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the average start up costs incurred by first-time business founders in the UK.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The United Kingdom is one of the best places to start a business, boasting one of the highest business start-up rates in the OECD – 18.6 start-ups per 1,000 people in 2022. This compares to an average of 4.5 start-ups per 1,000 people across OECD members.
The British Business Bank supports UK startups through its Start Up Loans scheme, offering fixed interest loans up to £25,000 per business owner.
The British Business bank has published guidance which outlines the typical costs that a UK startup may face. This is available at https://www.startuploans.co.uk/support-and-guidance/business-guidance/finance/what-does-it-cost-to-start-a-business-in-the-uk
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on expected changes in childcare demand in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency associated with childcare measures in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
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.
The government’s landmark Child Poverty Strategy sets out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups. From next year, parents claiming Universal Credit who are starting or returning to work (including after parental leave) will be able to have their childcare costs paid before they pay them - removing the need to front the money and claim it back later. Previously, Universal Credit covered childcare costs for up to two children. Under the new policy, families with more than two children will receive support for all their childcare costs.
Although we do not hold this data on a constituency level, there are no reported issues in the South East region.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment she has made of the level of earnings for people in residence-based and workplace-based employment settings in rural communities in Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Official Statistics Rural-Urban Classification classifies Buckinghamshire as an intermediate urban authority, having between 20% and 35% of its population within rural areas. The Department has figures for median and lower quartile gross annual earnings in 2024 for Buckinghamshire as a whole, as shown in the table below. Workplace-based earnings refer to the earnings of employees who work in Buckinghamshire - they may or may not live in Buckinghamshire. Residence-based earnings refer to the earnings of workers who live in Buckinghamshire, regardless of where they work.
Gross annual earnings for the Buckinghamshire in 2024
| Median (£) | Lower quartile (£) |
Residence-based | 43,300 | 31,300 |
Workplace-based | 39,800 | 30,000 |
This information is published within Defra’s Rural Economic Bulletin Supplementary Data Tables. Worksheets BC and BF contain the workplace based and residence-based earnings respectively for every local authority in England.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what workforce planning measures he has implemented to support the delivery of home-based NHS care in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure that the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
The NHS is increasingly using virtual wards, also known as hospital at home, to support people at the place they call home, and enable the shift from hospital to community care. Virtual wards allow patients to get the care they need at home safely and conveniently, rather than being in hospital.