Invest tax-free childcare delay savings into flexible childcare, charity says

Plans for tax-free childcare were delayed due to legal action brought forward by the government, which was cleared earlier this year. The scheme is now set to launch in early 2017.

The Family and Childcare Trust has called on government to direct the money saved at local authorities and childcare providers to allow working parents to access flexible childcare, and unemployed parents eligible for the two-year-old offer move into work.

The Trust’s report, Investing in flexible childcare, states that “whilst female employment is rising in the UK, maternal employment still significantly lags that of many developed nations”.  

The report cites statistics from the Department for Education (DfE) showing that 22 per cent of mothers who are not in paid employment report childcare issues as a reason they are not able to work, and that only 14% of local authorities have enough childcare for parents working atypical hours.

The report recommends using the funding to expand early years premises, for workforce development and financial incentives to parents.

Julia Margo, chief executive at the Family and Childcare Trust said:

“The expansion of free childcare is really positive news for parents, but we’re concerned that right now parents are struggling to access the existing 15 hours of free childcare because childcare provision is so inflexible.

“The savings from the delay of the tax-free scheme should be invested in flexible free childcare, so that local authorities and childcare providers are able to meet the needs of the thousands of working families expected to take up the 30 hours offer.

“We want the chancellor of the exchequer to use the Autumn Statement to reaffirm the government’s commitment to supporting working parents struggling to pay for and find the childcare they need.”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said:
 
"We welcome the report's call for government to use the savings from the delayed roll-out of the tax-free childcare scheme to increase financial support for the existing 15 hour free entitlement offer.
 
He said, however, that “it's clear to us that revenue funding – and more specifically, plugging this gap across the sector as a whole – should be the primary focus of any reallocation of resources.

“This is even more critical in light of government plans to extend the three- and four-year-old free entitlement offer to 30 hours from next year, and the additional financial pressures this will inevitably put on providers already struggling to stay afloat