Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on acting on the findings of the Social Mobility Commission report dated August 2020 that (a) one in eight of the early years workforce is paid under £5 an hour and (b) the average wage is £7.42 an hour.

The government recognises that high-quality childcare, with a well-qualified workforce, has a powerful impact on children’s outcomes. As part of the Spending Review on 27 October we announced that we are investing additional funding for the early years entitlements worth £160 million in 2022-23, £180 million in 2023-24 and £170 million in 2024-25, compared to the current financial year. This funding is for local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers for the government’s free childcare entitlement offers and reflects the costs of inflation and national living wage increases.