Hunt is expected to announce additional investment to reduce the cost of childcare for parents as part of Wednesday’s (15 March) Budget, according to reports from the BBC.
The funding will be part of a “comprehensive package of measures” to encourage people to enter the workforce, Hunt told the BBC. Announcements are expected to include plans for the government to pay childcare support to parents on universal credit upfront, as opposed to the current system which requires parents to reclaim costs after paying the fees.
Hunt is also expected to announce a several hundred pound increase to the maximum amount that people on universal credit can claim for childcare, according to the BBC.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association, welcomed plans for reform to universal credit childcare payments.
She said: “We have given evidence to various parliamentary inquiries and supported a legal challenge to the upfront payments system, so it’s a relief that the Chancellor has finally listened.
“However, addressing this much-needed reform in isolation will not help parents back into employment, nor will it support providers to sustain their businesses.
“Costs are rising at an overwhelming rate. The Chancellor must increase the funding rate to match delivery costs if our early years sector is to survive.”
Neil Leitch, chief executive of Early Years Alliance, added: “It is vital that any additional investment is enough not only to cover the cost of delivering care and early education today, but that a mechanism is created to ensure that early years funding remains adequate in the future as providers costs rise.”
Hunt is also expected to announce plans to change childcare ratios from 1:4 to 1:5, as first reported in The Sunday Times, prompting fear among sector leaders.
Leitch warned that relaxing ratios would be “disastrous” for the sector, saying: “If the reports that the government is also to proceed with plans to relax ratios is true, we are likely to see more and more early educators leaving the sector in their droves, resulting in a sharp drop in available places and, in the worst cases, further setting closures, with little to no impact on costs for parents.
“Such a move would demonstrate a complete disregard for our vital sector and the quality care and education that our workforce strives to provide to children and their families, and we urge any ministers thinking of pushing ahead with such a disastrous policy to think again.”
Tanuku added: "We haven’t even seen the response from the consultation which we know will be overwhelmingly in opposition to this plan. We have said time and time again this does not save money for parents or solve the current crisis the sector is in.
“We know following feedback from our nursery members that most will not implement the ratio changes and it would not lead to cheaper childcare for parents anyway. Parents do not want their children to have fewer adults with them and query the quality of their provision and their safety."
The fears come after four YMCA childcare settings were almost forced to close, due to funding shortfalls in the early years sector.
YMCA Nursery Warren Park, YMCA Pre-school Dunsbury and YMCA Nursery Sharps Copse in Havant were saved from closure after being purchased by Hayley Sparks of Girls and Boys Nurseries, and YMCA Townhill Early Years in Southampton was acquired by a local school provider.
YMCA said it is set to secure buyers for additional sites across the South of England in the coming weeks, as part of an ongoing dispersal project.
