Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in (a) Milton Keynes and (b) Buckinghamshire are expected to benefit from the increase in the Early Years Pupil Premium to £1 per hour in 2025-26.

Early education gives all children the best start in life. That is why we are delivering the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the early years pupil premium rate by over 45%, from 68p per hour in the 2024/25 financial year to £1 per hour in the 2025/26 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. The early years pupil premium rate will be the same for all age groups.

Early years funding, including early years pupil premium, is paid on the basis of part-time equivalents (PTEs) where one PTE is equivalent to a child attending a setting for 15 hours a week over 38 weeks. We expect to fund 862.52 PTEs in Buckinghamshire and 547.01 PTEs in Milton Keynes at the increased early years pupil premium rate in the 2025/26 financial year. Final allocations will be paid on updated census and headcount data.

More information on the 2025/26 financial year early years allocations and estimated PTEs can be found on GOV.UK.