Written question WQ97712
- Asked by
- Cefin CampbellPlaid
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 5 days
Question
Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm the Welsh Government's total spend on childcare in 2025-26, across Flying Start childcare and the childcare offer for Wales, and from which BELs this funding derived?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Children and Social Care
The total spend for our childcare programmes is not yet available for 2025-26. The budget allocations for these programmes are set out below.
The Childcare Offer for Wales has a budget of £77m and sits within the Support for Children & Play BEL 310.
This is a demand-led programme and support is made available for all eligible parents that apply. If take-up exceeds the budget allocation, we are committed to making funding available.
The Children and Communities Grant has a budget of £222.278m and sits within the Children and Communities Grant BEL 1087. Of this, £197.097m is Flexible Funding (FF) covering eight programmes, including core Flying Start and phase 2 of the expansion of Flying Start childcare.
The remaining £25.181m is ringfenced for phase 3 of the expansion of Flying Start childcare.