Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that the review of fair funding for early years education includes steps to close the gender attainment gap at age five.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government published a consultation on an Early Years National Funding Formula and changes to funding for the three- and four-year old free entitlements to childcare on Thursday 11 August. The consultation focuses on a creating a fair and transparent way of distributing Government funding to childcare providers. Our proposals set out the means by which every child in receipt of the free entitlement attracts funding to meet their individual needs, regardless of their gender. We rely on the early years profession to spend the money appropriately to meet those needs.

We are making a significant investment in early years education – the expenditure on the free entitlements alone will rise by 38% over this Parliament. Our investment supports the continued increase in the number of qualified staff and the number of providers rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. More than 80% of children are reaching the expected communication and language skills by age five, but we will continue working with the sector until every child gets the high quality education they deserve.