Peers vote for full funding review into free childcare expansion

During House of Lords scrutiny debate on the Childcare Bill, peers voted in favour of the new amendments to government proposals to double the amount of state-funded childcare to 30 hours a week for all three- and four-year-olds from 2017.

The amendments require the government to complete a "large-scale analysis" of the cost of implementing the pledge, and produce a "detailed solution" on how it will be funded. This will then be looked at by the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

They were introduced at the report stage of the bill due to peers not having the funding information the government assured would be available at this stage.

Liberal Democrat peer Kath Pinnock said the only commitment from government was the assurance that there will be an increase in the hourly funding rate for childcare. However, it is not known how much it will increase by.

“Without knowing, I do not see how the other elements of the bill can stand up to scrutiny,” Pinnock said.

“That is why we ought to delay discussing this bill, until we know how much will be available, because everything else depends on it.”

Peers' concerns follow the publication two weeks ago of the first stage of the Department for Education's review into the cost of expanding the free entitlement, which concluded it was "unable to understand" what the cost would be despite 2,000 submissions of evidence.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said: “We are delighted that that the House of Lords has listened to the concerns of the early years sector and made this vital amendment to the Childcare Bill.
 
“It is imperative, now, that this clause remains part of the bill as it continues its journey through parliament.

“The government should now commit to undertaking a full, in-depth review of childcare funding, ensuring that a credible, sustainable solution to underfunding is put in place before the plans are rolled out.
 
“This change is not about blocking the bill, or delaying the roll-out of the scheme. It is about ensuring that the offer is sustainable and will succeed in the long-term, and that neither providers nor parents will have to bear the cost of a pledge that should be adequately funded by government.”

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said: “It’s really good that there is such robust scrutiny of the Childcare Bill happening in the House of Lords.
 
“It is really important that the government now responds to this amendment and ensures that funding review findings are fully published and scrutinised.