Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on determining whether childcare providers' funding arrangements require parents to purchase additional hours before or after funded sessions as a condition of accessing their funded childcare entitlement.

As stated in the statutory guidance for local authorities, government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high-quality, flexible childcare. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2/early-education-and-childcare-valid-from-1-april-2026.

The 15 or 30 hours must be accessible to parents free of charge and there must not be any mandatory charges in relation to the free hours. Government funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals or additional hours and services.

Providers can charge parents for any additional, private paid hours according to their usual terms and conditions, provided taking up private paid hours is not a condition of accessing a place.

Where concerns are raised that a provider's allocation of funded hours may not be consistent with the statutory guidance, it is for the local authority to investigate the circumstances and determine whether the provider is complying with the requirements of its local provider agreement.