Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to ensure that disabled three and four year olds who require one-to-one care can still access the thirty hours of free childcare to which they are entitled.

The Childcare Act 2006 and Childcare Act 2016 make clear that if children meet the eligibility requirements for the free entitlements, the local authority must secure a place for them. The Equality Act 2010 requires that local authorities and all early years’ providers must make reasonable adjustments for disabled children.

Local authorities can use the high needs element of their Dedicated Schools Grant to support settings to provide childcare to disabled children. In addition, we introduced, in April 2017, a national Disability Access Fund, worth to £615 per child per year, to support disabled children to access the free entitlements.