YES BUT - Kate Bell, head of policy and research, National Council forOne Parent Families
We believe the balance of childcare funding should shift to providingsupply-side subsidies to secure free places. But there will alwaysremain a role for some demand-side payments. Tax credits may not be thebest place for these; the calculation is complex and large childcarebills can lead to large tax credit overpayments. However, anyreplacement needs to be carefully thought through to ensure that itmeets the needs of all parents, including those not in work.
NO - Anne Longfield, chief executive, 4Children
However, they do need to be paid in a different way. Help with childcarecosts is a crucial way of supporting parents on lower incomes. There isevidence to suggest that, under the present system, the money doesn'talways get through to providers leaving them with vacant places andsustainability worries. If we followed the New Zealand system, parentswould get the same amount of money for childcare but it would godirectly to the provider.
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