Over the five-year period to 2019-20, councils have access, through the Local Government Finance Settlement, to over £200 billion to deliver local services, including children’s services. Core spending power has increased from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion in 2019-20. For Sunderland, this means an increase in core spending power of £235 million in 2018-19 to £239 million in 2019-20.

In addition to this, the Autumn Budget announced a further £410 million in 2019-20 for local authorities to invest in adult and children’s social care services.

The Department for Education (DfE) made an investment of £2.4 million towards the creation of Together for Children (TfC), the company responsible for delivering children’s services in Sunderland, which has started to make an impact on improving children’s services. In addition, we are supporting TfC to develop projects which will help to deliver better quality services for the children and families of Sunderland.

DfE are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the review of relative needs and resources to develop a robust, up-to-date approach to funding distribution for children's services at local government finance settlements.

The government will continue to work closely with the sector to consider long-term children’s services funding as part of the upcoming Spending Review.

Over the five-year period to 2019-20, councils have access, through the Local Government Finance Settlement, to over £200 billion to deliver local services, including children’s services. Core spending power has increased from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion in 2019-20. For Sunderland, this means an increase in core spending power of £235 million in 2018-19 to £239 million in 2019-20.

In addition to this, the Autumn Budget announced a further £410 million in 2019-20 for local authorities to invest in adult and children’s social care services.

The Department for Education (DfE) made an investment of £2.4 million towards the creation of Together for Children (TfC), the company responsible for delivering children’s services in Sunderland, which has started to make an impact on improving children’s services. In addition, we are supporting TfC to develop projects which will help to deliver better quality services for the children and families of Sunderland.

DfE are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the review of relative needs and resources to develop a robust, up-to-date approach to funding distribution for children's services at local government finance settlements.

The government will continue to work closely with the sector to consider long-term children’s services funding as part of the upcoming Spending Review.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that there will be a Spending Review this year. All long-term spending decisions will be made as part of that and we are working with the sector to ensure that decisions are based on the best available evidence.

Please see the attached table.

We will be spending around £6 billion on childcare support in 2019-20 - a record amount. That will include funding for our early education entitlements, on which we plan to spend around £3.5 billion this year alone.

Local authorities receive funding from central government for delivering the free early years entitlements to 3 and 4 year olds through the dedicated schools grant. Our provisional allocations to local authorities for 2018-19 can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.

Local authorities are responsible for setting the funding rates for their early years providers in consultation with their schools forum. Data from local authority planned expenditure for 2018-19 is publicly available. The data, as reported by local authorities, is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/planned-la-and-school-expenditure-2018-to-2019-financial-year.

The government recognises the need to keep the evidence base on costs and charges up to date. The mean hourly fee charged by providers in England in Spring 2018 was estimated to be £5.02 for children under age 2, £5.01 for children aged 2 and £4.92 for 3 and 4 year old preschool children. Details can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2018.

We continue to monitor the provider market closely through a range of regular and one-off research projects which provide insight into various aspects of the provider market.

We will be spending around £6 billion on childcare support in 2019-20 - a record amount. That will include funding for our early education entitlements, on which we plan to spend around £3.5 billion this year alone.

Local authorities receive funding from central government for delivering the free early years entitlements to 3 and 4 year olds through the dedicated schools grant. Our provisional allocations to local authorities for 2018-19 can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.

Local authorities are responsible for setting the funding rates for their early years providers in consultation with their schools forum. Data from local authority planned expenditure for 2018-19 is publicly available. The data, as reported by local authorities, is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/planned-la-and-school-expenditure-2018-to-2019-financial-year.

The government recognises the need to keep the evidence base on costs and charges up to date. The mean hourly fee charged by providers in England in Spring 2018 was estimated to be £5.02 for children under age 2, £5.01 for children aged 2 and £4.92 for 3 and 4 year old preschool children. Details can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2018.

We continue to monitor the provider market closely through a range of regular and one-off research projects which provide insight into various aspects of the provider market.

Maintained nursery schools (MNS) make a valuable contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children.

MNS experience costs over and above those of other early years providers. That is why we are providing local authorities with around £60 million a year in supplementary funding to enable them to protect MNS funding.

This arrangement is due to end in March 2020, and what happens after that will be determined by the next Spending Review. We are aware that the supplementary funding for MNS currently accounts for about a third of their budgets - owing to uncertainty over the exact date of the Spending Review, we are considering how best to handle transitional arrangements for a number of areas, including MNS.

This government has an ambition to halve the proportion of children who finish reception year without the early communication and reading skills they need to thrive. To support this we are investing over £100 million in our social mobility programme. This includes £20 million in high quality, evidence-based training and professional development for pre-reception early years staff in disadvantaged areas; £26 million in a network of English hubs; and £10 million to understand ‘what works’ in partnership with the Education Endowment Foundation.

This ambitious work is underpinned by our early education entitlements - where we are making record investment. This includes the entitlement to up to 15 hours of free early education for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. Since its introduction in 2013, over 700,000 2-year-olds have benefited and take-up has risen and is now 72%.

Maintained nursery schools make a valuable contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Maintained nursery schools experience costs over and above those of other early years providers. That is why we are providing local authorities with around £60 million a year in supplementary funding to enable them to protect maintained nursery schools’ funding.

This arrangement is due to end in March 2020, and what happens after that will be determined by the next Spending Review. Owing to uncertainty over the exact date of the Spending Review, we are considering how best to handle transitional arrangements for a number of areas, including maintained nursery schools.

Local funding decisions are a matter for the relevant local authority. We are clear that it would be premature for local authorities to make decisions about the future of their maintained nursery schools before the Spending Review outcomes are published.

There is a presumption against the closure of maintained nursery schools. This does not mean that they will never close, but when they do, local authorities have a statutory requirement to ensure that alternative provision: is of at least equal quality; maintains expertise and specialism; and is more accessible and convenient for local parents.

Maintained nursery schools make a valuable contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Maintained nursery schools experience costs over and above those of other early years providers. That is why we are providing local authorities with around £60 million a year in supplementary funding to enable them to protect maintained nursery schools’ funding.

This arrangement is due to end in March 2020, and what happens after that will be determined by the next Spending Review. Owing to uncertainty over the exact date of the Spending Review, we are considering how best to handle transitional arrangements for a number of areas, including maintained nursery schools.

Local funding decisions are a matter for the relevant local authority. We are clear that it would be premature for local authorities to make decisions about the future of their maintained nursery schools before the Spending Review outcomes are published.

There is a presumption against the closure of maintained nursery schools. This does not mean that they will never close, but when they do, local authorities have a statutory requirement to ensure that alternative provision: is of at least equal quality; maintains expertise and specialism; and is more accessible and convenient for local parents.

Maintained nursery schools make a valuable contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Maintained nursery schools experience costs over and above those of other early years providers. That is why we are providing local authorities with around £60 million a year in supplementary funding to enable them to protect maintained nursery schools’ funding.

This arrangement is due to end in March 2020, and what happens after that will be determined by the next Spending Review. Owing to uncertainty over the exact date of the Spending Review, we are considering how best to handle transitional arrangements for a number of areas, including maintained nursery schools.

Local funding decisions are a matter for the relevant local authority. We are clear that it would be premature for local authorities to make decisions about the future of their maintained nursery schools before the Spending Review outcomes are published.

There is a presumption against the closure of maintained nursery schools. This does not mean that they will never close, but when they do, local authorities have a statutory requirement to ensure that alternative provision: is of at least equal quality; maintains expertise and specialism; and is more accessible and convenient for local parents.

For 2018-19 and 2019-20, there is no specific budget from which the funding for Opportunity North East will be drawn. As part of normal business planning processes, it will be drawn from existing budget underspends and efficiencies. Funding needed in the next Spending Review period will be prioritised at upcoming negotiations.