Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of eligible three to four-year-olds are registered for 30 hours per week of free early education and childcare, broken down by each UK (i) nation and (ii) region, as of 7 February 2023.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Statistics relating to the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements are published in the annual ‘Education provision: children under 5 years of age’ publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5. The next release containing January 2023 data is scheduled to be published at the end of June 2023.
The 15 and 30-hour entitlements are delivered by local authorities in England and figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.
There were 348,126 3- and 4-year-olds who were registered for the 30-hour entitlement in England in January 2022. Figures by English region can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/ab1f0941-2272-466d-9347-08db08498a11. This equated to an estimated four in five eligible children in January 2022.
In January 2022, an estimated 440,000 3- and 4-year-olds were eligible for the 30-hour entitlement in England, up from an estimated 390,000 in 2018. An estimated 48% of the overall 3- and 4-year-old population in England were eligible for the 30-hour entitlement in 2022, up from an estimated 42% in 2018. Figures from 2018 to 2022, rounded to the nearest 10,000, are attached.
These figures are based on Office for National Statistics population estimates, Family Resources Survey data and Survey of Personal Incomes data and is published within the ‘Education provision: children under 5 years of age’ statistical release, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5.
Due to the statistical uncertainty surrounding this estimate derived from survey data, it cannot be provided at a regional level.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families were eligible for tax-free childcare in each UK (a) nation and (b) region in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Families eligible for Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) are defined as those who meet the eligibility criteria and use qualifying childcare. HMRC does not hold this information for all families who could be eligible for TFC.
An estimate of the number of families eligible for TFC is derived from the Family Resources Survey. This is 1.3 million families across the UK over the past 5 years.
Since this is based on survey data, regional estimates are much less reliable and are not routinely produced but the table below was included in the Tax-Free Childcare Post Implementation Review and relates to March 2020 (see figure 4 on page 15):
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/28/pdfs/ukpgaod_20140028_en_001.pdf
The number of families that are eligible for TFC in each region is an estimate, based on information from the Family Resources Survey:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-201718
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what was the total (a) value and (b) number of grants and funding awarded via competitive bidding processes by his Department in each of the last four years; and how many competitive bidding applications have been received by the Department in each of the last four years.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to information provided to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee in recent correspondence .
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what was the total (a) value and (b) number of grants and funding awarded via competitive bidding processes by her Department in each of the last four years; and how many competitive bidding applications have been received by her Department in each of the last four years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department uses a competitive application process for general grants by default, wherever possible and appropriate. This is to encourage innovation, reduce reliance on incumbent organisations, drive value for money, and maximise outcomes. Competition for grant funding can be via a challenge fund, where organisations compete for a portion of the available funding, in line with application guidance, or via a more traditional competition where organisations compete against each other through the submission of a delivery proposal for a single award of funding. The value and volume of competed general grant schemes for the Department is available for the 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 financial years at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-data-and-statistics. Data relating to the 2021/22 financial year will be published in March 2023.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what was the total (a) value and (b) number of grants and funding awarded via competitive bidding processes by his Department in each of the last four years; and how many competitive bidding applications have been received by her Department in each of the last four years.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This information is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the total (a) value and (b) number of grants and funding awarded via competitive bidding processes by her Department in each of the last four years; and how many competitive bidding applications have been received by her Department in each of the last four years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
| 19/20 | 20/21 | 21/22 | 22/23 (to date) |
Competed Grant Schemes | 39 | 32 | 43 | 39 |
Total Value | £103,795,959.94 | £124,252,424.08 | £144,852,941.85 | £95,967,218.56 |
I can confirm that the Home Office holds information relating to the number of competitive bidding applications received in each of the last four years. However, this information can only be obtained at disproportionate costs to the Home Office.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what was the total (a) value and (b) number of grants and funding awarded via competitive bidding processes by his Department in each of the last four years; and how many competitive bidding applications have been received by the Department in each of the last four years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The following table provides the value and number of funding awarded via a competitive process in each of the last four years.
Financial year | Number of competed grants | Value of competed grants per FY |
20/21 | 22 | £1,655,030,538.12 |
19/20 | 29 | £979,104,358.00 |
18/19 | 22 | £565,290,692.00 |
17/18 | 49 | £872,135,115.34 |
At present, the Department does not have a single internal system that captures the details of all competitive bidding applications received by the Department in each of the last four years.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2022 to Question 45820 on Healthy Start Scheme: North East, what proportion of eligible claimants claimed Healthy Start vouchers in (a) the North East and (b) each local authority area in the North East in (i) April 2022 and (ii) each subsequent month for which data is available.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department of Health and Social Care is continuing working with the NHS Business Services Authority and the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain data on the uptake of the Healthy Start scheme.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2022 to Question 1509, and the Answer of 14 July 2022 to Question 18900, on Healthy Start Scheme: North East, what proportion of eligible claimants claimed Healthy Start vouchers in (a) the North East and (b) each local authority area in the North East in April 2022 and each subsequent month for which data is available.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
The Department of Health and Social Care is continuing to work with the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain the relevant data as soon as possible.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2022 to Question 1509 on Healthy Start Scheme: North East, what proportion of eligible claimants claimed Healthy Start vouchers in (a) the North East and (b) each local authority area in the North East in April 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The information requested is not currently held centrally. However, the Department continues to work with the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain the relevant data as soon as possible.