Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the increase to (a) employer National Insurance contributions and (b) the national living wage on trends in the level of fees paid by parents with children in early education and childcare.

It is the department’s ambition that parents have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and childcare. ​​This government has had to take some tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, but this government has increased investment in the early years to drive forward progress towards our plan for change target of a record number of children starting school ready to learn.

In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare. This is an increase of more than 30% compared to the 2024/25 financial year.

This increase ensures funding for the entitlements, reflects forecasts of average earnings and inflation next year, and also reflects the National Living Wage announced at the Autumn Budget 2024.

The department also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. On top of this, we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the Early Years Expansion Grant.

We are additionally providing £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance contributions grant for public sector employers in the early years.

From the start of September 2024, eligible working parents have been entitled to 15 hours a week of early education and care from the term after their child turns nine months. So far, over 320,000 additional parents are now accessing a place. Going further, from September 2025, eligible working parents will be able to access 30 hours of early education and childcare a week.

Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare.

The department also wants to ensure that parents are aware of and accessing all government funded childcare support they are eligible for. The department is raising awareness of the government-funded childcare support available via the Childcare Choices campaign to boost children’s life chances and parents’ work choices.