Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which minister in his Department is responsible for delivering a Defence Early Years Strategy.

As Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families, I am responsible for all policy matters relating to Service personnel and their families. While childcare is not a core output of Defence, it is recognised that difficulties in accessing appropriate childcare can be a factor in retaining Service personnel and we have launched several initiatives to address this.

In January 2022, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) launched the UK Armed Forces Families Strategy 2022-2032. The childcare component of this strategy seeks to ensure that families have access to good quality, safe and enriching childcare. This allows Service personnel to fully engage with their duties, gives their families greater opportunity, and improves wellbeing for all involved.

In September 2022, the MOD also launched the Defence UK Wraparound Childcare scheme. Under this initiative, the MOD meets the wraparound childcare costs of children aged 4 - 11 of eligible Service parents, saving families up to £3,000 per child per year. At present, over 6,000 families are making use of the scheme, a figure which is likely to increase.

In those overseas locations where Service personnel and their dependants have no statutory entitlement to access host nation provision, the MOD has committed to mirror as far as is reasonably practicable the statutory provision available in England. Where MOD-provided overseas settings have capacity, the 30 hours entitlement will be provided through those settings, free of charge.

More recently, MOD has established a new project focused on supporting the development of childcare capacity in the Early Years setting (0-3 years) on or near Defence locations, to exploit the opportunity created by the recent Budget announcement on the expansion of free childcare places.