Baroness Coffey

The Child Poverty Taskforce is drawing in evidence and expertise from all relevant departments, as is reflected in the broad membership of the Ministerial Taskforce. The Taskforce is co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Secretary of State for Education. The Secretaries of State or their delegates from the following departments are members of the Taskforce: the Cabinet Office; the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government; HM Treasury; the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; the Department for Business and Trade; the Department for Energy and Net Zero; the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; the Department for Health and Social Care; the Wales Office; the Northern Ireland Office; and the Scotland Office.

The Taskforce has consulted external experts from a range of organisations, including local and regional government, charities, think tanks, businesses, and the public sector on a range of topics.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is drawing in evidence and expertise from all relevant departments, as is reflected in the broad membership of the Ministerial Taskforce. The Taskforce is co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Secretary of State for Education. The Secretaries of State or their delegates from the following departments are members of the Taskforce: the Cabinet Office; the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government; HM Treasury; the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; the Department for Business and Trade; the Department for Energy and Net Zero; the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; the Department for Health and Social Care; the Wales Office; the Northern Ireland Office; and the Scotland Office.

The Taskforce has consulted external experts from a range of organisations, including local and regional government, charities, think tanks, businesses, and the public sector on a range of topics.

The answers are consistent with one another. Whilst the Great British Energy Bill is considered environmental law, it is not proposing any changes to environmental law so there is no basis for the minister to form a view on the need for advice from the Office for Environmental Protection on any matter relating to the natural environment.

Section 30(1) of the Environment Act 2021 states that the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) must give advice to a Minister of the Crown about any proposed changes to environmental law, or any other matter relating to the natural environment, on which the Minister requires it to give advice.

Section 30(3) of the Environment Act 2021 states that the OEP may give advice to a Minister of the Crown about any changes to environmental law proposed by a Minister of the Crown.

The Great British Energy Bill does not propose any change to environmental law. Therefore, as there is no basis for the minister to form a view on the need for advice from the OEP on any matter relating to the natural environment, the OEP is not providing advice.

Section 30(1) of the Environment Act 2021 states that the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) must give advice to a Minister of the Crown about any proposed changes to environmental law, or any other matter relating to the natural environment, on which the Minister requires it to give advice.

Section 30(3) of the Environment Act 2021 states that the OEP may give advice to a Minister of the Crown about any changes to environmental law proposed by a Minister of the Crown.

The Great British Energy Bill does not propose any change to environmental law. Therefore, as there is no basis for the minister to form a view on the need for advice from the OEP on any matter relating to the natural environment, the OEP is not providing advice.

The advice received by the Department regarding the Secretary of State’s statement under section 20 of the Environment Act 2001 is legally privileged. Therefore, this information will not be released.

Clause 3 of the Great British Energy Bill, if enacted, would be considered ‘environmental law’.

As set out in the Plan for Change, antenatal classes, health visitors, parenting support, baby and toddler groups and access to affordable, high quality early education and childcare are all vital to guiding parents, improving the home learning environment and supporting child development.

A strong and stable family environment is the foundation for better health, education and earnings. It is parenting, alongside the home-learning environment, that has a significant influence on these outcomes. The department knows parents struggle to access services and the support they need. Childcare is also too often unaffordable or not available. This lack of support contributes to too many children not being ready to start school.

That is why the department has set a milestone of 75% of five year-olds reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessment by 2028.

To deliver this, we are rolling out expanded government-funded childcare entitlements and creating thousands of school-based nurseries to increase quality childcare, working in partnership with early years providers to drive up standards by reforming training and support for staff and strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.

The government remains committed to working with the early years sector, teachers, health professionals and families to ensure every child has the best start in life.

Children’s earliest years are crucial to their health, development and life chances. That is why the department has set a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn in the classroom. We will measure our progress through 75% of children at the end of reception reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Profile assessment by 2028.

The statutory EYFS framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years providers must follow to ensure all children have the best start in life and are prepared for school. It requires that children be assessed against the EYFS Profile in the summer term of the academic year in which they turn five.

The EYFS Profile seeks to measure children’s level of development to support their successful transitions into year 1 and to support parents, carers and early years educators to recognise children’s progress and understand their needs. It comprises an assessment of the child’s outcomes in relation to 17 early learning goals (ELGs) across seven areas of learning.

Children are defined as having a good level of development at the end of the EYFS if they are at the expected level for the 12 ELGs within the five areas of learning. These relate to communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, physical development, literacy and mathematics. This is the definition that will be used to measure progress on school readiness, as set out in the Plan for Change.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.  No local authorities are reporting that they are unable to meet their sufficiency duty. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ’Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. The full guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare.

Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

The department does not hold the data for public sector providers of childcare places in the format requested. The 2024 childcare and early years providers survey estimated there to be 54,700 Early Years providers in total, made up of 21,200 group-based providers, 9,700 school-based providers and 23,800 childminders. The survey estimated there to be 1,602,500 registered places, made up of 1,100,100 group-based provider places, 359,200 school-based provider places and 143,200 childminder places. The survey can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-provider-survey/2024.

For private providers, Ofsted publishes information in ‘Childcare providers and inspections: management information’, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/childcare-providers-and-inspections-management-information, with reference to Table 2, column J which provides a detailed breakdown of places by private providers in each local authority. Table 2 is also provided in the attached excel document.

Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. We do not currently have any reports of sufficiency issues in any local authority.

The department does not hold the data for public sector providers of childcare places in the format requested. The 2024 childcare and early years providers survey estimated there to be 54,700 Early Years providers in total, made up of 21,200 group-based providers, 9,700 school-based providers and 23,800 childminders. The survey estimated there to be 1,602,500 registered places, made up of 1,100,100 group-based provider places, 359,200 school-based provider places and 143,200 childminder places. The survey can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-provider-survey/2024.

For private providers, Ofsted publishes information in ‘Childcare providers and inspections: management information’, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/childcare-providers-and-inspections-management-information, with reference to Table 2, column J which provides a detailed breakdown of places by private providers in each local authority. Table 2 is also provided in the attached excel document.

Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. We do not currently have any reports of sufficiency issues in any local authority.

We have paused the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) ahead of reforming it. This is the third time SFI has been paused. We will confirm plans for the reformed SFI in the summer and we expect that scheme to contribute to these outcomes. There are also tens of thousands of farmers in SFI for three years, supporting those outcomes.

The Government is continuing to make progress on the King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP), with over 51% of the path completed and now open for public use.

Of the remaining 1,270 miles, establishment works are underway on 976 miles, with less than 300 miles still to be approved. The entire project is set to be completed by Spring 2026, and when finished, the KCIIIECP will become the longest waymarked and managed coastal walking route in the world.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs budgets are published as Supplementary Estimates each year.

The table provided below shows the Departmental Expenditure Limits following Supplementary Estimates for the Resource and Capital Budgets, excluding Annually Managed Expenditure and Non-Budget Expenditure.

Further details can be found by searching for the published Central Government Supply Estimates for the relevant years on GOV.UK.

The King Charles III England Coast Path is expected to be completed by Spring 2026. This government has inherited a delivery programme that has been delayed by several factors such as rising costs of materials and constrained capacity in local authorities.

The King Charles III England Coast Path is expected to be completed by Spring 2026. This government has inherited a delivery programme that has been delayed by several factors such as rising costs of materials and constrained capacity in local authorities.