Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applicants for school-based nurseries have served notices to quit to PVI settings operating on their premises in the last two years.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. This government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, including school led provision and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers operating from school sites.
The department continues to work closely with the early years sector to scale the programme effectively. We will use learnings from the first phase of the programme in relation to PVI providers operating from school sites to help inform future phases so any new provision continues to meet the needs of children, parents, and schools, and supports a thriving and diverse market.
The establishing school-based nurseries guidance includes advice about co-location with other providers and was published on 24 October 2024. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/establishing-school-based-nursery-provision/establishing-school-based-nursery-provision.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that school-based nurseries opened as a result of the school-based nursery grant are supplementing PVI setting provision.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. The government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, including school led provision and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers operating from school sites.
To be eligible for the 2024/25 grant, schools were asked to outline how their proposals met local demand and to confirm that their local authority early years lead and pupil place planning lead were content with their proposal to use surplus space to add new or expanded nursery provision.
We are engaging with the sector, including with PVI providers, on the next phase of the school-based nursery programme which is due to launch in the autumn.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning schools who have evicted PVI settings from their premises in the last two years in order to apply for the school-based nursery grant from future expansions of the school-based nursery scheme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. This government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, including school led provision and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers operating from school sites.
The department continues to work closely with the early years sector to scale the programme effectively. We will use learnings from the first phase of the programme in relation to PVI providers operating from school sites to help inform future phases so any new provision continues to meet the needs of children, parents, and schools, and supports a thriving and diverse market.
The establishing school-based nurseries guidance includes advice about co-location with other providers and was published on 24 October 2024. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/establishing-school-based-nursery-provision/establishing-school-based-nursery-provision.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the effective delivery of two weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person, in the context of business operational constraints.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Employers that offer high quality work experience opportunities see direct business benefits, from a more diverse future pipeline of talent, which helps to address local and national economic needs.
The department is piloting a new model of work experience to reduce barriers to participation for young people, schools and employers. This includes small and medium-sized employers, for whom traditional block work experience placements in the summer term can be challenging, and provides the flexibility and scope to tailor their work experience offer while still realising business benefits.
Based on a more flexible and progressive approach, young people will have access to two weeks’ worth of meaningful and varied workplace experiences throughout key stages 3 and 4, allowing access to different industries and occupations, including in priority growth sectors.
The Careers and Enterprise Company has developed a suite of tools and resources to help employers understand and prepare for September 2025 when schools will begin to prepare and introduce the multiple, meaningful and varied workplace experiences. The department will set out more detail in due course.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to prevent schools removing PVI settings operating on their premises in order to apply for future expansions of the school-based nursery grant.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. This government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, including school led provision and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers operating from school sites.
The department continues to work closely with the early years sector to scale the programme effectively. We will use learnings from the first phase of the programme in relation to PVI providers operating from school sites to help inform future phases so any new provision continues to meet the needs of children, parents, and schools, and supports a thriving and diverse market.
The establishing school-based nurseries guidance includes advice about co-location with other providers and was published on 24 October 2024. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/establishing-school-based-nursery-provision/establishing-school-based-nursery-provision.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with early years providers to help tackle early years staffing shortages in areas identified as childcare deserts.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The early years workforce is at the heart of our mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver the Plan for Change.
We are supporting recruitment through our national ‘Do something BIG’ campaign, with a dedicated website setting out information on qualifications and linking to job vacancies, alongside financial incentives to attract and retain educators in areas of most need.
In addition, we are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to promote and raise awareness of early years careers through the Jobcentre Plus network. We are creating new routes into the workforce through Skills Bootcamps and funding early years initial teacher training, while our delivery support contractor, Childcare Works, is supporting local authorities and providers with one-to-one targeted support.
These efforts are starting have an impact, with staff numbers increasing by over 18,000 between 2024 and 2025.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the schools that started the breakfast club pilot scheme on 22 April 2025 have withdrawn; and for what reason each withdrew.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The first term of free breakfast clubs has already served two million breakfasts and parents, pupils and teachers are seeing the positive benefits this has to the school day.
This is part of a test and learn phase in advance of national rollout. This is a voluntary scheme.
The department is providing a package of support to all schools partaking in the early adopter scheme, including peer-to-peer learning and expert advisers, to ensure that they are confident to deliver their free breakfast clubs. We are working with schools to understand the sufficiency of this offer to inform the national rollout of the new free breakfast clubs.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will publish a list of (a) the proposed locations for new school-based nurseries and (b) the criteria used to select them.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Phase one of the School-Based Nurseries Capital Grant 2024/25 was open to all state funded primary-phase schools across England. We published a list of the successful schools, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-based-nursery-capital-grant-application-outcomes.
The criteria used to determine the location of the new and expanded school-based nurseries was published in our applicant guidance and included local demand for nursery places.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the expansion of school-based nurseries is focused on addressing childcare deserts and areas with significant unmet need.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The department is committed to ensuring that the expansion of school-based nurseries targets areas of need, while complementing the existing childcare market. In the first phase of the programme, schools could only apply with local authority endorsement, ensuring alignment with local demand and strategic oversight. In some areas, no bids were supported, due to a lack of identified need. In the first phase of the programme, the majority of new nurseries are in the North or Midlands, increasing access to childcare in cold spots and supporting the communities that need it most.
The department is currently reviewing the targeting and implementation approach for future phases of the programme. We will learn from the initial phase and will continue working closely with the sector to inform our planning, ensuring new provision meets the needs of children, parents, and the local community.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the potential impact of new nursery provision on childcare (a) availability and (b) affordability in areas already served by existing providers.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Local authorities are required by legislation to secure sufficient childcare places for children in their areas, and the department will continue to speak to local authorities in England about their sufficiency of childcare. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.