To ask the Minister of Education whether the £1.8 million returned to the Department of Finance in respect of earmarked Early Learning and Childcare funding will be retained for Early Learning and Childcare measures.

The c£1.8m initially earmarked for childcare business support was returned to the Department of Finance when it was confirmed in November 2024 that the timeframe for the Department for the Economy completing its sector scoping study had been revised to March 2025.

Re-allocating the funding at that point to other early learning and childcare measures was considered but deemed not feasible within the timeframe.

In line with financial budgeting processes, the c£1.8m underspend within the Early Learning and Childcare 2024/25 budget was returned to the Department of Finance as part of January monitoring and it became available to meet other Executive priorities in this financial year.