Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Nash on 3 June (HL Deb, col 413), what format the funding review of the early-years childcare proposal will take; and whether the details will be available prior to the second reading of the Childcare Bill.

The Government has committed to increasing the average rate that providers are paid for the entitlement. At oral questions on 15 June 2015, My Hon Friend the member for East Surrey, Sam Gyimah confirmed that a cross-Government review of the cost of providing childcare is underway.

A call for evidence to inform the review was launched on 15 June and will close on 10 August. This is part of a process of gathering the necessary evidence which will inform the outcome of the review and will report in the autumn.

The call for evidence document is attached.