Key Spending Review Announcements
Yesterday (27 October), the Chancellor delivered his Budget and the outcome of the 2021 Spending Review. The Department for Education (DfE) want to draw your attention to the following key announcements:
- Government are investing additional funding for the early years entitlements worth £160m in 2022-23, £180m in 2023-24 and £170m in 2024-25. This is for local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers for the government’s childcare entitlement offers and reflects the costs of inflation and national living wage increases.
- £500 million over the next three years to transform ‘Start for Life’ and family help services in half of the council areas across England. This will fund a network of Family Hubs, Start for Life services, perinatal mental health support, breastfeeding services, and parenting programmes.
- Over £200 million a year for the continuation of the holiday activities and food programme, providing enriching activities and healthy meals for disadvantaged children during school holidays. Information on the current programme (HAF 2021) is available here.
Early Years Recovery
As set out in the DfE press notice, the government is investing £153 million to build a stronger, more expert workforce in the early years sector. This was previously announced as part of the £1.4 billion commitment made on 2 June 2021. You can find a factsheet detailing how that £153 million will be invested here.