Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of disparities in funding for early-years education across England; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage

This Government recognises that the current funding system for three- and four-year-olds creates unfair and unjustifiable differences between local areas, and between types of providers.

This is why we have recently consulted on our proposals for a national funding formula for the early years. Our proposals will ensure that funding for the early years is based on the costs of meeting the needs of local children, not on historic spending patterns.

It is vital that funding is fairly distributed between different parts of the country and different types of providers, so that providers can deliver both the existing 15-hour entitlement and the extended 30-hour entitlement for working parents, on a sustainable basis.

We are currently considering all responses to the consultation, and are planning to publish the Government’s response in the autumn.