Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether a childcare provider may allocate funded entitlement hours exclusively to a fixed afternoon session where a child attends from the morning; and what criteria local authorities should apply when determining whether the resulting requirement to purchase additional morning hours is consistent with statutory guidance.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There is no requirement that childcare providers must deliver funded hours at particular times of the day or on particular days of the week. Providers are free to choose when to deliver hours, as long as they comply with the terms of their arrangements with the local authority.
Local authorities should ensure providers obtain a parental declaration before a child takes up a place, confirming the number of hours, attendance pattern and any optional charges agreed by the parent. This helps ensure clarity for both parents and providers.
As set out in the statutory guidance for local authorities, local authorities should ensure sufficient flexible provision to meet parental needs, maximise entitlement take-up and help parents access places that support both children's development and parents' work commitments. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2/early-education-and-childcare-valid-from-1-april-2026.
Local authorities should also act as a broker between parental demand and provider capacity, helping parents access places that meet their required days and times.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of restrictions on the times at which funded childcare hours can be accessed on parents' ability to (a) enter employment, (b) remain in employment and (c) increase their working hours.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There is no requirement that childcare providers must deliver funded hours at particular times of the day or on particular days of the week. Providers are free to choose when to deliver hours, as long as they comply with the terms of their arrangements with the local authority.
Local authorities should ensure providers obtain a parental declaration before a child takes up a place, confirming the number of hours, attendance pattern and any optional charges agreed by the parent. This helps ensure clarity for both parents and providers.
As set out in the statutory guidance for local authorities, local authorities should ensure sufficient flexible provision to meet parental needs, maximise entitlement take-up and help parents access places that support both children's development and parents' work commitments. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2/early-education-and-childcare-valid-from-1-april-2026.
Local authorities should also act as a broker between parental demand and provider capacity, helping parents access places that meet their required days and times.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department takes steps to collect data on the number of funded childcare hours that eligible parents are unable to use because the sessions offered by childcare providers do not correspond with their working arrangements.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold the requested data.
However, as part of the childcare and early years survey of parents carried out by department, parents are asked whether they were able to find term-time childcare that fits in with their working hours or their partner’s working hours. This is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents/2025.
The most recent results are for 2025. Among couple families with one or both parents in work and working lone-parent families, 68% agreed that they could find term-time childcare that fits their working hours (19% strongly agree; 49% agree), 9% neither agreed nor disagreed, 11% disagreed and 11% reported that they do not use or need formal childcare. Findings are based on 1,418 couple families with children aged 0 to 4. Percentages do not add up to exactly 100 due to rounding.
Local authorities should ensure sufficient flexible provision to meet parental needs and help parents access places that support parents' work commitments.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of childcare providers restricting funded childcare entitlement hours to fixed sessions on the ability of working parents to access their full entitlement.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold the requested data.
However, as part of the childcare and early years survey of parents carried out by department, parents are asked whether they were able to find term-time childcare that fits in with their working hours or their partner’s working hours. This is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents/2025.
The most recent results are for 2025. Among couple families with one or both parents in work and working lone-parent families, 68% agreed that they could find term-time childcare that fits their working hours (19% strongly agree; 49% agree), 9% neither agreed nor disagreed, 11% disagreed and 11% reported that they do not use or need formal childcare. Findings are based on 1,418 couple families with children aged 0 to 4. Percentages do not add up to exactly 100 due to rounding.
Local authorities should ensure sufficient flexible provision to meet parental needs and help parents access places that support parents' work commitments.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on determining whether childcare providers' funding arrangements require parents to purchase additional hours before or after funded sessions as a condition of accessing their funded childcare entitlement.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As stated in the statutory guidance for local authorities, government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high-quality, flexible childcare. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2/early-education-and-childcare-valid-from-1-april-2026.
The 15 or 30 hours must be accessible to parents free of charge and there must not be any mandatory charges in relation to the free hours. Government funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals or additional hours and services.
Providers can charge parents for any additional, private paid hours according to their usual terms and conditions, provided taking up private paid hours is not a condition of accessing a place.
Where concerns are raised that a provider's allocation of funded hours may not be consistent with the statutory guidance, it is for the local authority to investigate the circumstances and determine whether the provider is complying with the requirements of its local provider agreement.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department requires local authorities to take where concerns are raised that a childcare provider's allocation of funded hours may be inconsistent with the statutory guidance on early education and childcare.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As stated in the statutory guidance for local authorities, government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high-quality, flexible childcare. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2/early-education-and-childcare-valid-from-1-april-2026.
The 15 or 30 hours must be accessible to parents free of charge and there must not be any mandatory charges in relation to the free hours. Government funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals or additional hours and services.
Providers can charge parents for any additional, private paid hours according to their usual terms and conditions, provided taking up private paid hours is not a condition of accessing a place.
Where concerns are raised that a provider's allocation of funded hours may not be consistent with the statutory guidance, it is for the local authority to investigate the circumstances and determine whether the provider is complying with the requirements of its local provider agreement.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has assessed the extent to which regional electricity carbon intensity varies from the national average; and what estimate she has made of the average carbon intensity of electricity in the South West during overnight off-peak periods.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The National Energy System Operator publishes regional carbon intensity forecasts, including for South West England, through its Open Data Portal.
Regional Carbon Intensity Forecast | National Energy System Operator
Regional carbon intensity can vary due to a range of factors, including the location of electricity generation and patterns of demand. However, Great Britain operates as a single, interconnected electricity system, with electricity generated in one area able to meet demand elsewhere. This supports security of supply and affordability by enabling electricity to flow between regions and making efficient use of generation.
Regional carbon intensity estimates therefore do not necessarily reflect the carbon intensity of electricity consumed in a particular region.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the National Energy System Operator's Demand Flexibility Service is designed to reduce carbon emissions in all regions of Great Britain; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that service on emissions in the South West.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The National Energy System Operator’s (NESO) Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) is designed to support efficient balancing of the electricity system by rewarding consumers who choose to flex their electricity demand. The DFS can contribute to reducing emissions where demand is shifted away from periods of likely higher-carbon generation, with scale varying depending on time, location and network conditions. NESO has continued to evolve the DFS, introducing demand turn-up and regional procurement, and incorporating the Local Constraints Market. NESO has not undertaken an assessment of the emissions impact of DFS in the Southwest.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether Ofgem considered requiring the National Energy System Operator's new balancing platform to incorporate carbon intensity as a dispatch criterion.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem does not specifically require NESO to incorporate carbon intensity as a dispatch criterion. However, they do set incentives with regard to the carbon intensity of its balancing actions. NESO now holds three statutory objectives: net zero objective, security of supply objective, and efficiency and economy objective. These create a framework whereby NESO can determine the best way to balance the system considering the factors of carbon intensity and cost.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether carbon intensity is used as a criterion by the National Energy System Operator when selecting balancing actions on the electricity system.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
NESO has duty in legislation to promote enabling the government to deliver net zero. Set out in their balancing principles statement is how they consider this duty when balancing the system. NESO are building the capacity to operate the system in a zero-carbon way and consider that the balancing principles allow zero carbon technologies to fully participate in our balancing services. NESO also has a licence obligation to balance the system in an economic and efficient manner, as well as not to unduly discriminate between technology types. They factor in all of these requirements when balancing the system.