The Know Daily - Wednesday 29 November 2023

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There are fewer than 50 Sumatran rhinos left on the planet - but the critically endangered species has received a much-needed boost with the birth of a new calf. The mother, named Delilah, gave birth on Sumatra island in Indonesia, where the entire rhino population now lives.

🚸 Childcare funding boost

The government is planning to invest £400m into the UK’s early years sector from April as part of a wider drive to boost economic growth.

Tell me more. 
Ministers have announced what The Guardian has described as a childcare “funding injection”, with the Department for Education (DfE) expanding its 30 free hours of childcare per week scheme to cover younger children and increasing the hourly rate it gives local authorities to fund the care.

Eligible working parents of three and four-year-olds currently receive 30 hours of taxpayer-funded childcare a week. From April, this will be extended to 15 hours for working parents of two-year-olds, and then 15 hours for parents of children aged nine months and above from September. 

Who will be eligible?
According to the BBC, eligibility “depends on each parent or carer earning more than the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage per week”. 

Working parents of two-year-olds will be able to apply for the first wave of new government-funded childcare offers from 2 January.

What has the government said?
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the changes would make sure “parents no longer have to choose between a career and a family” but added that she is aware “the delivery of this transformation is no easy task”.

How have the changes been received? 
Mixed. While the Early Education and Childcare Coalition welcomed the hourly rate bump for local authorities, its director told The Guardian that the increase “is still a long way short of where it needs to be to match the true cost of provision”. 

The chief executive of the Early Years Alliance had a similar view, telling the BBC that the funding increase was “welcome” but “still likely to fall short of what the sector needs”.

Are more changes expected in the future?
Yes - from September 2025, all eligible working parents of children under five will be able to get funding for 30 free hours of childcare a week during term time.