Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - Godalming and Ash)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce the cost of childcare for everyone.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity, which starts by ensuring every child has the best start in life. It is our ambition for all families to have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving life chances for children and work choices for parents.
The government is committed to delivering a modern childcare system from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school, providing every child with a firm foundation which sets them up for life and ensures parents are able to work the jobs and hours they choose, breaking down the barriers to opportunity for every family.
From September 2024, eligible working parents of children aged nine months and above have been able to access 15 hours of government funded childcare per week (over 38 weeks a year), and from September 2025 working parents will be able to access 30 hours per week (over 38 weeks a year) for children from aged nine months to when they start school.
As announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, we expect to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements in 2025/26, which is around a 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we continue to deliver the expansion to eligible working parents of children aged from nine months.
The new government is improving access to high quality childcare and early education and will be allocating funding for the first phase of new or expanded school-based nurseries, with 300 ready for September 2025.
To support working families with primary-school-aged children, the National Wraparound Childcare programme is improving the availability of before and after school childcare to ensure that parents have the flexibility they need to care for their children, delivering 200,000 additional childcare places. The government is going further to deliver universal free breakfast clubs in every primary school starting with 750 early adopter schools from April 2025, to ensure children are set-up for the day and ready to learn, whilst supporting parents to have greater work choices.
In addition to the entitlements, parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare. Parents can check what childcare support they are entitled to via the Childcare Choices website, which can be accessed here: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.
Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - Godalming and Ash)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of pupils in England aged (a) 11 (b) 16 and (c) 18 did not have Entry Level 3 levels of literacy in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not hold centrally information on how many and what proportion of pupils in England aged 11, 16 and 18 do not have entry Level 3 levels of literacy nor the information on the number of secondary school leavers in England who do not have Level 3 levels of literacy.
Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - Godalming and Ash)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of adults in the UK who were (a) below OECD literacy Level 1, (b) at OECD literacy level 1 and (c) at OECD literacy level 2 in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The Department for Education monitors literacy levels for adults through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Survey of Adult Skills. The last study took place in 2012 and showed the following:
Percentage of adults (aged 16-65) at each level in literacy in England, 2012
OECD level | Percentage meeting this level in literacy |
Below Level 1 | 3.3% |
Level 1 | 13.1% |
Level 2 | 33.1% |
Source: Table 2.7, Adult skills international survey 2012
The survey is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-survey-of-adult-skills-2012.
The next OECD Survey of Adult Skills will take place in 2021/22.
Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - Godalming and Ash)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of secondary school leavers in England who did not have Entry Level 3 levels of literacy in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not hold centrally information on how many and what proportion of pupils in England aged 11, 16 and 18 do not have entry Level 3 levels of literacy nor the information on the number of secondary school leavers in England who do not have Level 3 levels of literacy.
Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - Godalming and Ash)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total interest paid on student loans was in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Student Loans Company does not distinguish between capital and interest when allocating repayments to a student’s account. It is not possible therefore to identify separately the total interest repaid.