A Department for Education uplift of early years funding rates worth £400m will “fall short” of what providers need to deliver the government’s planned expansion of the funded childcare offer, sector leaders have said.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan today (29 November) said that she is “pushing ahead with increased funding rates across the country” to roll out the expansion of funded childcare to children as young as nine months old by 2025.
The funding had been previously announced during Jeremy Hunt’s spring Budget when plans to expand funded childcare were revealed.
The roll-out will begin in January when eligible working parents of two-year-olds will be able to register for 15 hours of funded childcare per week.
