Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Twickenham during the Oral Statement of 7 July 2025 on Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life, Official Report, column 687, what factors informed her Department’s decision to (a) update inspection standards and (b) increase funding for early years settings.

Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. That is why the Plan for Change set out our ambition for a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn.

Ofsted is in the process of delivering changes to the way it works. The decision to update inspection standards is an important element of this work, to ensure that all children receive the best start in life.

​​We want to ensure the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver the early years entitlements. The hourly funding rates for the entitlements are published each year in the autumn ahead of the following financial year. The rate covers the core costs of providing 15 or 30 hours of childcare to parents. We take account of cost pressures facing the sector, including forecasts of average earnings and inflation, and the National Living Wage.