Education Secretary refers childcare add-on costs to competition watchdog

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has called on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to examine additional costs being charged by early years providers to parents accessing government-funded childcare hours. The intervention comes amid concerns that some settings are imposing extra fees, top-ups or conditional charges that could prevent families from fully benefiting from statutory entitlements. The CMA review will assess whether these additional charges constitute fair market practice or potentially anti-competitive behaviour within the childcare sector. This move signals heightened scrutiny of early years funding arrangements as the government continues its rollout of expanded funded hours for working parents, seeking to ensure that policy intentions around affordability are realised in practice without hidden barriers for families.