Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support the Government provides to local authorities to increase the uptake of free early education.

Take-up of the entitlement to free early education for three- and four-year-olds is already very high – reaching 96% across England in January 2015.

The entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds was introduced September 2013. This was by extensive marketing activity, including radio, posters and through social media. The government supports local authorities in securing high take-up for this entitlement by providing them with information on parents believed to be eligible for the entitlement. This enables direct communication, marketing and support to be provided to parents so that they can access the entitlement for their child.