St Benet’s Primary School to Receive Funding for School-Based Nursery Places

I am delighted that today St Benet's Catholic Primary School in Beccles has been announced as one of 331 schools across the country who will receive a share of £45 million as part of the Government’s ‘Best Start in Life’ programme to open or expand school-based nurseries from September.

This funding will create over 6,000 more childcare places – on top of the up to 7,000 extra already being delivered through the first phase of the project.

Independent research published by the children’s charity Coram last week found that this Government’s reforms to childcare have cut costs substantially (https://www.gov.uk/.../working-families-saving-thousands...)

The cost of a 50-hour place for a child under two, for example, has fallen by 52% since 2024 and parents are saving an average of £8,000 per year per child.

Over a million parents are utilising the Government’s offer of 30 hours of free childcare, and 29% of parents are able to increase their work hours.

This comes alongside the Government rolling-out free breakfast clubs to all primary schools, expanding the eligibility of children for free school meals, establishing new Best Start Family Hubs across the country, and putting a cap on the number of branded uniform items that schools can require.

These are all actions to save parents money and give all children – regardless of their background – the best possible start in life.

The third phase of the school-based nursery programme requires local authorities to apply for three-year capital grant by the end of September and I have therefore written to Suffolk County Council today to ask that they do so on behalf of our area.