MS, First Minister, and
MS, Minister for Children and
Social Care: We are delighted to inform Members, that
following the additional funding agreed in the 2025-26
budget, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council are the first Local
Authority to advise us that they are now able to provide Flying
Start childcare for all two-year-olds in their Local Authority
area. This is a significant achievement which demonstrates our
commitment to giving every child in Wales the best possible start
in life.
The Minister for Children and Social Care wrote to members in July 2025
to provide an update about our Programme for Government
commitment to deliver a phased expansion of early years
provision to include all two-year-olds, with a particular
emphasis on strengthening Welsh-medium provision.
Phase 3 of the expansion began in April 2025 and is being
delivered through our Flying Start Childcare programme. In
2025-26, we are investing £25m of additional funding for further
expansion across Wales, which will bring Wales a step closer
to the universal provision of childcare for all
two-year-olds. We expect this first year of Phase 3 to
support more than 4,000 additional two-year-olds across Wales to
access high quality Flying Start childcare.
Flying Start childcare is a vital service, which helps children
to learn, grow and thrive. Phase 3 of the expansion of Flying
Start childcare will allow all Local Authorities across Wales to
reach more families who can benefit from this offer.
We want to thank colleagues across the sector including local
authorities and childcare providers for their hard work to extend
the reach of high-quality Flying Start childcare. We will
continue to work closely with local authorities, childcare
providers and other partners to ensure the quality and
sustainability of Flying Start childcare.
This funding for the Flying Start expansion was secured through
the budget deal between the Welsh Government and MS, Leader of the Welsh Liberal
Democrats.
We will keep Members of the Senedd updated about further
progress.
