Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of maintained nursery schools in (a) Wandsworth and (b) England.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Maintained nursery schools (MNS) are a valuable part of early years provision. There are 381 MNS as at January 2024. They are predominantly located in disadvantaged areas.

Additional supplementary funding is provided to local authorities for MNS in their areas. In the 2024/25 financial year, the initial budget for MNS supplementary funding is £82.6 million, subject to final budget update. The national average hourly rate for MNS supplementary funding is £5.27, the minimum supplementary funding rate is £4.64 and the cap on the hourly rate is £10.

Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high-quality childcare is a priority for the department. This includes delivering new nursery provision in primary schools to help deliver the expansion in childcare entitlements and ensuring that a variety of different types of provision are available that suit the needs of different parents. The department is continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places.

The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the number of places available has remained broadly stable since 2019. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action they are taking to address those issues, and where needed, the department will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Where a MNS does close, or is merged with a school, what replaces it must be of equal quantity, preserve expertise and specialisms, and it must be more accessible and convenient for local parents. The department has not received any reports on sufficiency challenges in Wandsworth.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the educational benefits of state maintained nurseries.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

High quality early education has a profound impact on child development, and it particularly benefits disadvantaged children. The government recognises that maintained nursery schools contribute to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children, with around 80% of them being located in disadvantaged areas.

They also have a reputation for excellence and are recognised as high quality providers; in December 2023, 61% of them were judged to be Outstanding by Ofsted and 37% were judged to be Good.

In 2018, the department carried out research on the role and contribution of maintained nursery schools. The report can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f48d4398fa8f57fb653f840/Frontier_Economics_MNS_report_REVISED_v2.pdf.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of supporting maintained nursery schools.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Maintained nursery schools (MNS) are a valuable part of early years provision. There are 381 MNS as at January 2024. They are predominantly located in disadvantaged areas.

Additional supplementary funding is provided to local authorities for MNS in their areas. In the 2024/25 financial year, the initial budget for MNS supplementary funding is £82.6 million, subject to final budget update. The national average hourly rate for MNS supplementary funding is £5.27, the minimum supplementary funding rate is £4.64 and the cap on the hourly rate is £10.

Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high-quality childcare is a priority for the department. This includes delivering new nursery provision in primary schools to help deliver the expansion in childcare entitlements and ensuring that a variety of different types of provision are available that suit the needs of different parents. The department is continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places.

The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the number of places available has remained broadly stable since 2019. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action they are taking to address those issues, and where needed, the department will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Where a MNS does close, or is merged with a school, what replaces it must be of equal quantity, preserve expertise and specialisms, and it must be more accessible and convenient for local parents. The department has not received any reports on sufficiency challenges in Wandsworth.

Found: about this point, the LA said: “It was the council’s intention to share consultation information with nursery

Found: The LA said that : “It was the council’s intention to share consultation information with nursery schools

Found: the following ways: 8 EYFS [Early Years Foundation Stage] unit with mixed age classes across the nursery

Found: The term includes nursery schools, primary schools and secondary schools as defined in the Education

Found: The term includes nursery schools, primary schools and secondary schools as defined in the Education

Found: The term includes nursery schools, primary schools and secondary schools as defined in the Education

Found: The term includes nursery schools, primary schools and secondary schools as defined in the Education

Found: overseen by childminding agencies), nurseries, pre- schools, before - and after -school clubs , and Nursery

Found: Median earnings were higher in secondary schools than in primary and nursery schools.

Found: Median earnings were higher in secondary schools than in primary and nursery schools. • When comparing

Found: Education authorities may provide clothing to pupils who are boarders, or pupils who are attending nursery

Found: based partners, while also continuing to delive r sessions in a number of the following settings: nursery

Found: Head Teachers of former nursery schools have all been replaced by Heads of Centre since 2012 as and

Found: Head Teachers of former nursery schools have all been replaced by Heads of Centre since 2012 as and