Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what baseline figure his Department will use to measure progress on reducing the number of (a) people with a learning disability and (b) autistic people in mental health hospitals by 10 per cent within 2025-26.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether each Integrated Care System is required to reduce the number of (a) people with a learning disability and (b) autistic people from their area in mental health hospitals by 10 per cent within 2025-26.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the use of innovative technologies to treat glaucoma through the 10-Year Health Plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to preventing and managing conditions such as glaucoma in all parts of the country. More tests and scans delivered in the community and better joint working between services will support the management of conditions, including glaucoma, closer to home.
The plan will draw directly from the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, and staff, including in the eye care sector. We are in the final stages of working on the plan and will publish it shortly.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will continue to play a crucial role in evaluating new medicines, medical devices, and other technologies, to determine their clinical and cost-effectiveness, before recommending them for NHS use.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking through the NHS 10-Year Health Plan to improve glaucoma care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to preventing and managing conditions such as glaucoma in all parts of the country. More tests and scans delivered in the community and better joint working between services will support the management of conditions, including glaucoma, closer to home.
The plan will draw directly from the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, and staff, including in the eye care sector. We are in the final stages of working on the plan and will publish it shortly.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will continue to play a crucial role in evaluating new medicines, medical devices, and other technologies, to determine their clinical and cost-effectiveness, before recommending them for NHS use.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his department is taking to help prevent irreversible blindness due to glaucoma progression.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Regular sight tests play a crucial role in the early detection of glaucoma, which is often symptomless in the early stages. Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many, including individuals diagnosed with glaucoma or those aged 40 years old and over with a close family history of glaucoma. Patients with suspected glaucoma will be referred for further investigation, any clinically necessary treatment, and ongoing monitoring, which can delay its progression.
NHS England has been testing how IT connectivity between primary and secondary eye care services and the development of a single point of access could improve the referral and triage of patients, reducing the time from referral to treatment. It could also allow for more patients to be managed closer to home, within community optometry. This could benefit all patients with eye care needs, including those with suspected or diagnosed glaucoma.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the average shortfall between Government funding and the actual cost to nurseries of delivering a funded nursery place.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
In 2025/26 alone, this government plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements and we have increased the early years pupil premium by over 45%. On top of this, we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the Early Years Expansion Grant.
To set early years funding rates, we uplift the national average rate from the previous year taking into account cost pressures facing the sector, including forecasts of average earnings and inflation, and the National Living Wage. We use the early years national funding formulae (EYNFF) to distribute the early years entitlements budget to local authorities. The EYNFF includes a base rate for each child, which is the same minimum funding for every child no matter where they live or whether they have additional needs. This rate is based on the core costs of childcare provision and has been informed by the cost of childcare review.
To make sure we can account for the differences in costs across the country, such as on staffing and premises costs, we also apply an area cost adjustment for each area. This approach only increases funding, it never reduces the base rate or additional needs funding.
The average hourly funding rate provided for 3 and 4-year-olds since 2018 is as follows:
Year | 3 and 4-year-old combined rate |
2017/18 | £4.76 |
2018/19 | £4.75 |
2019/20 | £4.75 |
2020/21 | £4.83 |
2021/22 | £4.88 |
2022/23 | £5.04 |
2023/24 (April – August) | £5.28 |
2023/24 (September – March) | £5.62 |
2024/25 | £5.88 |
2025/26 | £6.12 |
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding rates for early years providers offering free nursery places.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
In 2025/26 alone, this government plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements and we have increased the early years pupil premium by over 45%. On top of this, we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the Early Years Expansion Grant.
To set early years funding rates, we uplift the national average rate from the previous year taking into account cost pressures facing the sector, including forecasts of average earnings and inflation, and the National Living Wage. We use the early years national funding formulae (EYNFF) to distribute the early years entitlements budget to local authorities. The EYNFF includes a base rate for each child, which is the same minimum funding for every child no matter where they live or whether they have additional needs. This rate is based on the core costs of childcare provision and has been informed by the cost of childcare review.
To make sure we can account for the differences in costs across the country, such as on staffing and premises costs, we also apply an area cost adjustment for each area. This approach only increases funding, it never reduces the base rate or additional needs funding.
The average hourly funding rate provided for 3 and 4-year-olds since 2018 is as follows:
Year | 3 and 4-year-old combined rate |
2017/18 | £4.76 |
2018/19 | £4.75 |
2019/20 | £4.75 |
2020/21 | £4.83 |
2021/22 | £4.88 |
2022/23 | £5.04 |
2023/24 (April – August) | £5.28 |
2023/24 (September – March) | £5.62 |
2024/25 | £5.88 |
2025/26 | £6.12 |
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of regional variations in the cost of delivering nursery provision in England.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
In 2025/26 alone, this government plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements and we have increased the early years pupil premium by over 45%. On top of this, we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the Early Years Expansion Grant.
To set early years funding rates, we uplift the national average rate from the previous year taking into account cost pressures facing the sector, including forecasts of average earnings and inflation, and the National Living Wage. We use the early years national funding formulae (EYNFF) to distribute the early years entitlements budget to local authorities. The EYNFF includes a base rate for each child, which is the same minimum funding for every child no matter where they live or whether they have additional needs. This rate is based on the core costs of childcare provision and has been informed by the cost of childcare review.
To make sure we can account for the differences in costs across the country, such as on staffing and premises costs, we also apply an area cost adjustment for each area. This approach only increases funding, it never reduces the base rate or additional needs funding.
The average hourly funding rate provided for 3 and 4-year-olds since 2018 is as follows:
Year | 3 and 4-year-old combined rate |
2017/18 | £4.76 |
2018/19 | £4.75 |
2019/20 | £4.75 |
2020/21 | £4.83 |
2021/22 | £4.88 |
2022/23 | £5.04 |
2023/24 (April – August) | £5.28 |
2023/24 (September – March) | £5.62 |
2024/25 | £5.88 |
2025/26 | £6.12 |
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the financial sustainability of nursery providers in the context of changes to free childcare entitlement.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity. We want a record proportion of children (75%) to achieve a good level of development by the end of reception by 2028. By focusing on child development rather than just childcare, the government aims to ensure that children are better prepared for school and future learning.
In 2025/26 alone, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements. This is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements.
As announced at the Spending Review, the government will provide an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to 2025/26, to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents. Employment Allowance is being increased to protect businesses by providing relief of up to £10,500 per annum on their employer Class 1 National Insurance contributions liabilities from 6 April 2025. Early years childcare providers are entitled to claim the Employment Allowance if they are private businesses or charities, and we expect the vast majority will be eligible to do so.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free nursery hours were funded in each year since 2018; and what the total cost to the public was in each of those years.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Funding for the early years entitlements is based on part-time equivalent (PTE) hours. We define 1 PTE as 15 hours across 38 weeks a year (570 funded hours per annum).
Early years entitlements funding is allocated to local authorities through the early years block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG). DSG allocations are published annually on GOV.UK. The figures requested have been provided in the attached table.
Early years entitlements funding is demand led, so allocations are updated to reflect actual take-up throughout the year. Final allocations for a financial year are available in the July following the financial year ending in March.