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Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 5 December 2016.

Childcare: Early Years Funding

Question

My Lords, following what the noble Earl said, the Family and Childcare Trust argued that the new funding, welcome as it is, does not focus sufficiently on improving

quality of provision in the settings most likely used for disadvantaged children who particularly need qualitycare. What are the Government doing to improve quality of care in such settings to ensure that disadvantaged children get that quality provision?

Answer

I entirely agree with the noble Baroness about the importance of ensuring high quality. Our entire focus is on that, particularly for children with SEND. An additional needs element is factored into the early years funding formula to better target funding towards local authorities with a higher relative proportion of children with additional needs, and our final funding policy confirmed last week includes a new disability access fund worth £615 per child per year to support disabled three and four year-olds, and a requirement for all local authorities to have inclusion funds to channel additional support to children with SEND.

Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
777 c496 
Session
2016-17
Oral question type
Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Finance Pre-school education Standards
Link
View this Oral question on hansard.parliament.uk