Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 55 of the Spring Budget 2023, what the planned timescales are for spending the £289 million in start-up funding for childcare; and how much and what proportion of that funding will be allocated to childcare school-aged children.

In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a transformative set of childcare reforms. This included the largest ever investment in childcare including expansions of early years entitlements and wraparound childcare.

The department is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme to support local authorities to work with primary schools and providers, including childminders, to set up and deliver more wraparound childcare before and after school in the term time. The department’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm.

Parents should expect to see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needs it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026. Programme funding allocations will be announced at the necessary points to support local authorities and schools to meet these timescales.