Children: Day Care

(asked on 16th January 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the finding of the survey of childcare providers in England, conducted by the Pre School Learning Alliance in December 2017, that 38 per cent of providers are uncertain whether or not they will be offering 30 hours places in a year's time.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 19th January 2018

The government has always been clear that providers can choose whether to offer 30 hours and what pattern of days and hours they offer parents. We have also been clear that government funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals or additional services. It is entirely reasonable for providers to charge parents for additional extras but this cannot be a condition of the child’s place.

The independent evaluation of the 30 hours early delivery areas did not find that charges were a barrier to parents taking up a place. They also showed that over 80% of providers who previously delivered the free entitlements were willing and able to offer extended hours places.

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