Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that children have access to high-quality early years (a) education and (b) childcare in (i) rural and (ii) seaside towns.

The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare in all areas. We continue to work across government to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and accessible, and to encourage families to use government-funded support they are entitled to.

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. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England and if a local authority raises concerns about sufficiency issues, we will support them with any specific requirements. At present, all local authorities report that they are fulfilling their duty to ensure sufficient childcare.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years providers must follow to ensure every child has the best start in life and is prepared for school. In 2021, the EYFS framework was reformed. An objective of these 2021 reforms was to improve early years outcomes for all children, particularly disadvantaged children, in the critical areas that build the foundations for later success, such as language development and literacy. A further objective was to reduce unnecessary assessment paperwork for practitioners and teachers so they can spend more valuable classroom time supporting children through rich curriculum activities.

The government is investing up to £180 million in an early years education recovery package of training, qualifications, expert guidance and targeted support for the early years sector to support the learning and development of the youngest and most disadvantaged children.