Childcare: Black Country

Stephen Morgan Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) for securing a debate on this important subject, especially on such a busy day in the House. I know already that she is a real champion for children and young people in her constituency.

This Government believe that all children, regardless of who they are, where they come from or their parents’ income, deserve access to high-quality early education. This mission-driven Government have committed to the best start in life pillar, reinforcing the importance of available and affordable high-quality early years education and childcare. The new Government are committed to delivering the childcare entitlements that families have been promised, giving every child the opportunity to have the best start in life. Local authorities and early years providers have worked diligently to deliver the latest expansion of entitlements in September, and more than 320,000 parents are already accessing a place.

Over the weekend, we confirmed £1.8 billion to support the expansion to 2025-26 and a further £15 million of capital funding to expand school-based nurseries. Eligible working parents of children aged nine months are currently entitled to 15 hours of Government-funded childcare a week for 38 weeks a year. From September next year, this will increase again to 30 hours, but we have to be honest with parents in the Black Country and across the country about the scale of that final, more challenging phase.

Around 70,000 additional places and 35,000 early years educators are needed to deliver the expansion to 30 hours next September. Our analysis tells us that more than half of local areas need to increase their capacity by between 10% and 20% to meet the demand for next September and that the highest uplifts are needed in some of the most disadvantaged areas. We will continue to work tirelessly to bridge the gaps ahead of next September. However, in some parts of England, though parents may receive the hours they were promised, they may not get their first choice of nursery or childminder.

I know from my engagement with councils that local authorities are working hard to generate growth in available places and to develop the workforce they need. My Department has regular contact with each local authority in England to discuss the sufficiency of their childcare places and the issues they are facing. Where needed, it links local authorities with Childcare Works, an organisation contracted by the Department, to support them.

The size and quality of early education and childcare provision in the Black Country is significant. Across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton, there are around 770 providers that provide approximately 32,000 places. My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that local authorities in the Black Country area are not reporting any issues with their sufficiency.

As my hon. Friend rightly states, high-quality early years education plays a crucial role in improving children’s life chances. It has a positive impact on children’s outcomes in the short and long term, particularly for the most disadvantaged. Under this Government, growing the early years education system will not come at the cost of quality. We have already announced the extension of the early years stronger practice hubs programme until at least March 2025, with a continued focus on supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds. In July, the Government committed to extend the funding of evidence-based early language interventions in primary schools, so that every child can find their voice. We will also drive up standards in early maths education and increase the quality of provision.

Following consultation, with strong support from the sector, we have published our response to proposals to strengthen safeguarding requirements in the early years foundation stage statutory framework. The Department will implement all the proposals, including those on safer recruitment, child absences, safer eating, safeguarding training and paediatric first aid training. Additionally, new proposals on providing employment references and supporting whistleblowing will be introduced. These changes are set to be implemented from September 2025 and will formalise existing best practices to ensure that all early years educators have the knowledge and support they need to deliver safe, high-quality early education and childcare.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley for securing this important debate, and I thank all Members who have contributed. The Government will continue to work hand in hand with the sector to deliver an early years system that gives every child a firm foundation and sets them up for their next stages in life.

Question put and agreed to.