Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the number of nurseries that have withdrawn from the childcare funding scheme citing cost pressures on early years provision.

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.

Local authorities are required by legislation to provide sufficient childcare places for children in their local area who require childcare. This includes children with special educational needs and disabilities and children in rural areas. Local authorities are also required to report annually to councillors on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare and to make this report available and accessible to parents.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. At present, no local authorities are reporting they are unable to meet their sufficiency duty.

In the 2025/26 financial year alone, this government plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. The department has 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, raising it to the equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.

On top of this, the department is providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector in providing the additional places and workforce needed by September 2025.