Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of two hours of wraparound care for reception age children.

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

The government 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 government’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children, including reception age children, to be able to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm when they need it.

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 for local authorities were announced on 27 October 2023.

As part of the programme, local authorities will make an assessment of the supply and demand of wraparound care in their areas to ensure that there is adequate provision for the needs of parents.