Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the (a) total number and (b) proportion of families eligible for the offer of 30 hours free childcare who have (i) registered for their place via the Childcare Choices website and (ii) also had their code validated by a childcare provider.

The Childcare Choices website provides information on whether parents could be eligible for a range of government childcare offers, including 30 hours free childcare. Parents can apply for Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare through the digital Childcare Service, which is accessible via Childcare Choices.

As of 18 July, successful parent applications via the Childcare Service have generated 145,463 valid 30 hours eligibility codes. 48,577 valid codes have been verified by local authorities.

The number of eligible children fluctuates by term and by parental employment and we cannot estimate with precision how many children are eligible at any specific time.