Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on the below inflation rise in early years funding.

Ministers and officials have regular discussions with HM Treasury on matters relating to early years funding.

On 15 March 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the hourly rates for childcare entitlements will be substantially uplifted, on top of the additional investments announced at the 2021 Spending Review.

The department will provide £204 million of additional funding this year, increasing to £288 million by 2024/5, for local authorities to further increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers, with further uplifts to follow each year. This will include an average of 30% increase in the 2 year old rate from September 2023 and means that in 2024, the average hourly rate for 2 year olds will be more than £8 per hour and around £11 per hour for under 2s. The 3 to 4 year old rate will rise by 4% to over £5.50 per hour from September 2023, with further uplifts beyond this.

This funding is in addition to the £4.1 billion that the government will provide by 2027/28 to facilitate the expansion of the new free hours offer. This will ensure all eligible working parents in England will, by September 2025, be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, for 38 weeks of the year, from when their child is 9 months old to when they start school.