It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley for securing this debate on an important subject. This Government believe that all children deserve access to high-quality early education and are committed to delivering childcare entitlements promised to families. Local authorities and providers have worked diligently to deliver the latest expansion of entitlements in September, with over 320,000 parents accessing a place. The government confirmed £1.8 billion to support the expansion to 2025-26 and an additional £15 million for capital funding to expand school-based nurseries. More than half of local areas need to increase their capacity by between 10% and 20% to meet demand next September, with the highest uplifts needed in disadvantaged areas. My Department works regularly with each local authority to discuss childcare sufficiency and issues faced. Across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton, there are approximately 770 providers offering around 32,000 places, with no reported issues regarding sufficiency. The Government will continue to grow the early years education system without compromising quality by extending the stronger practice hubs programme until at least March 2025 and funding evidence-based early language interventions in primary schools from July. New safeguarding requirements will be implemented from September 2025, including safer recruitment, child absences, safer eating, safeguarding training, and paediatric first aid training.