Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of early years providers in England that may increase their capacity through the use of free flow outdoor space under the proposed changes to the early years foundation stage statutory framework.

The expansion of funded childcare is continuing to support families. The department is exploring new ways to help providers offer more high-quality childcare places for working families, which includes access to outdoor space. Therefore, the department has launched a consultation on whether to introduce flexibility into the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework that will allow free-flow outdoor space to be included in the indoor space requirements, with a possible cap on the number of additional places that can be offered. The consultation can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/space-requirements-in-early-years-childcare-settings-in-england. The EYFS framework can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.

The department’s ‘Pulse surveys of childcare and early years providers’, which were published April 2024, found strong support for these proposals with the majority of providers, with 70 per cent (7 in 10), saying they would be likely to use these flexibilities. The survey results can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pulse-surveys-of-childcare-and-early-years-providers. The results of the consultation, and the department’s response, are expected to be published in autumn 2025.