To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) any steps being taken to ensure the financial and operational sustainability of voluntary pre-school providers; and (ii) how their viability compares to statutory providers.

Since my appointment as Education Minister, I have significantly increased funding for non-statutory pre-school providers..

In August 2024 I approved the payment of a one off non-consolidated stabilisation payment of £100 per pupil as part of a package of additional measures to support the early years and childcare sectors.

I also approved two increases to the Pre-school Education Programme (PSEP) funding rate for non-statutory settings effective from September 2024. The most recent uplift increased the rate to £2,550 per pupil per year and represents the largest single increase in the non-statutory PSEP funding rate that my Department has ever made. It recognises the vital role which non-statutory providers play within the programme. As a result of these increases an average setting with 16 funded places will have received approximately £8,000 additional funding in the 2024/25 academic year.

Should any non-statutory setting consider its funded PSEP places to be at risk due to financial or other pressures they can contact the EA PEG to discuss their concerns and, if appropriate, will be supported to apply for additional funding from the Strategic Support Fund (SSF).

The Common Funding Formula is the Department’s mechanism for allocating budgets to statutory pre-school settings funded through Local Management of Schools arrangements. The current pupil Age Weighted Pupil Unit (AWPU) for statutory pre-school settings is set out in the table below, alongside the current rate for non-statutory providers. Statutory settings are funded based on the enrolment data on the school census immediately preceding the financial year to which funding relates (i.e. 2024/25 CFF is based upon the October 2023 census).

Per-Pupil Funding – 2024-25 Financial Year