Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the average annual cost of providing a place at a (a) maintained nursery school, (b) private, voluntary or independent early years provider, (c) primary school and (d) secondary school.

For the 2016-17 financial year the Government allocated an average of £2,568 per annum to local authorities for each early years place for three- and four-year olds, with this amount funding provision of 15 hours per week over 38 weeks. Local authorities determine the local funding rates for maintained nursery schools, and for private, voluntary and independent providers. Alongside our commitment to extend the free entitlement to childcare from 15 to 30 hours a week for working parents, we have committed to increasing the average hourly rate for delivering the entitlements.

For the 2016-17 financial year the Government allocated an average of £4,636 per pupil through the schools block of the dedicated schools grant, for children aged 5 to 16 in mainstream schools. It is the responsibility of local authorities to decide the balance of funding between primary and secondary pupils.