Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and
Wellbeing (): This Government is
delivering a brighter future for Britain, with long-term economic
security and opportunity: where hard work is always rewarded;
where ambition and aspiration are celebrated; where young people
get the skills they need to succeed in life and where families
are supported.
We are rolling out the largest expansion of childcare and early
education in England's history. From this month, eligible working
parents will access the first 15 hours of funded childcare each
week for their 2-year-olds. In September they will be able to
access 15 hours each week for their 9-month-olds. From September
2025 all eligible parents will have access to 30 hours free
childcare for children aged 9 months all the way until they start
school.
At the beginning of April, we exceeded our target of 150,000
children benefitting from the new two-year-old entitlement. As of
today, this stands at over 195,000. By September 2025, the full
rollout will be completed – saving parents an average of £6,900
per year.
With the action government is taking, we will ensure that parents
can benefit from more affordable childcare, making it easier to
return to work or increase their hours.
Experience-based route (EBR) consultation
Last year, the government consulted on proposed changes to the
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework. This
included the introduction of an ‘experience-based route' for
early years staff who do not have the required full and relevant
qualifications, but are otherwise experienced, competent and
responsible, to work within the staff:child ratios. This proposal
received strong support as a means to help childcare providers
make the best use of the skills and experience of the workforce
so that they can deliver on the childcare expansion, and in its
response to the consultation the Department noted its intention
to develop this route.
Today 22 April we launched a technical consultation setting out
the Department's proposals on how the experience-based route
could work in practice, ensuring that high-quality education and
care is maintained. The consultation asks questions on the
proposed decision-making model, eligibility criteria, and process
requirements..
We know that to deliver the commitments announced at Spring
Budget 2023, the early years workforce will require additional
staff. Our strategy to support the workforce is clear – to enable
providers to better utilise the skills of their existing
workforce, to attract talented staff into the sector and maximise
the skills pipeline into the early years workforce.
Safeguarding consultation launch
The safety of children is our utmost priority and we continually
monitor and review safeguarding requirements for early years
settings to make sure children are kept as safe as possible. As
the early education and childcare sector expands, we want to
continue to support early years practitioners to deliver
high-quality and safe provision to millions of children each day.
Today 22 April, we launched a consultation on proposals to
deliver changes to the safeguarding requirements in the Early
Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework. This is the
framework that sets the standards that all early years providers
must meet to ensure that children learn, develop well and are
kept healthy and safe. The safeguarding proposals have been
informed by extensive engagement with providers, health
professionals, sector stakeholders and safeguarding experts, and
using lessons learned from previous incidents.
I have seen first-hand the excellent practices that providers
have in place to keep children safe. Many are already carrying
out what we are proposing in the consultation in their settings.
It is my intention to ensure that all practitioners have the
knowledge and support they need to deliver the safest, highest
quality early education and childcare provision possible.
Through both consultations, we hope to hear from as many people
and organisations as possible so we can gather a broad range of
views to help the Government reach well-informed and fair
decisions.
