Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many additional childcare places have been created in each quarter since May 2015 to support the roll-out of the 30-hour childcare offer.

We are making record investments in the government’s free childcare offer: over £1 billion more per year by 2020. This includes £300 million per year for a significant increase to the hourly rates paid for two, three and four-year-old entitlement. From April 2017, the national average funding rates also increased to £4.94 for three and four-year-olds and £5.39 for two-year-olds. We are also investing £100m in capital funding to create nearly 18,000 additional places for eligible children to help meet demand from hardworking parents. This investment will support even more providers to deliver 30 hours.

In addition our national delivery contractor, Childcare Works, are supporting all local authorities to ensure they are ready to deliver the required number of free places in September 2017. Local authorities report that they have benefitted from support with estimating demand in their local areas.