To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the levels of (a) profit and (b) changes in the levels of profit made by private providers and operators of childcare and early years provision in England in the last (i) five and (ii) ten years; and if he will make a statement.

Under current legislation, private, voluntary and independent group-based providers are not required to share financial information with the department. Therefore, the precise information requested is not available.

The department's Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers indicates income-to-cost ratios. A broader measure capturing the ‘breakeven’ range indicates that around half (51%) of all providers had roughly equal total income and total cost, while 26% had a deficit and 24% had a surplus. The patterns in 2021 were broadly similar to those in 2018 and 2019. This information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providers-finances-survey-of-childcare-and-ey-providers-2021.