Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that (a) nurseries in Mid Leicestershire and (b) other early years providers receive adequate levels of support to access childcare entitlements due to be implemented in September 2025; and what steps she is taking to support providers with (i) staffing, (ii) SEND provision and (iii) capital funding to meet increased demand.

It is the department’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. In 2025/26, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, an additional £2 billion (over 30% increase) in comparison to 2024/25 as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements. The department continues to help people discover rewarding early years careers through the ‘Do something Big’ national recruitment campaign, building on our pilot of delivering financial incentives in 38 local authorities this year. With regards to special educational needs and disabilities, inclusion funding will fund extra resources for providers to better support inclusion and early intervention.

We have awarded £37 million of capital funding in the first phase to 300 primary schools which we expect will deliver up to 6,000 nursery places, with over 4,000 available from September 2025 to support the childcare expansion.