PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(9 July 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the level of spending was on the 15 hours free childcare offer in each of the last five financial years for which data is available, broken down by a. working and b. non-working parents.

Asked by:
Sir Mel Stride (Conservative)

The latest dedicated schools grant allocations for the early years entitlements over the past five years can be found here: https://skillsfunding.service.gov.uk/view-latest-funding/.

The 3 and 4-year-old working parent entitlement, the 2-year-old working parent entitlement, and the under 2s working parent entitlement are only available to working parents who meet the eligibility criteria. For the universal 3 and 4-year-old entitlement and the early learning for 2-year-olds entitlement, the government has never collected data on whether or not parents who claim these entitlements are in work.

The latest January 2026 statistics relating to funded early education and childcare were published on 2 July 2026 here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2026.

These statistics contain headcount level figures on the number of children registered for early-learning for 2-year-olds by basis for funding as well as figures on the number of children registered for the various entitlement types.

Answered by:
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