Four-fifths of councils unprepared for holiday childcare

Research published today reveals a postcode lottery of holiday childcare provision. Only 20 per cent of local authority Family Information Services are able to state that they have sufficient holiday childcare in place to meet parental need – down from a third last year.

But 63 per cent of Family Information Services reported that parents had complained of a lack of childcare in their area – rising to 88 per cent in the south-east region. Costs also varied from £119.32 for private or voluntary sector childcare in the east of England region, compared with just £58.89 for local-authority-provided childcare in Wales.

"We are hugely concerned by the gaping hole in the provision of holiday childcare across the country. The situation continues to get worse with the impact of local authority spending cuts which we see are already attacking holiday childcare provision," said Daycare Trust chief executive Alison Garnham. "Where provision is available, parents are being expected to shell out the equivalent cost of a family holiday abroad over the course of the summer – simply for the privilege of having their children looked after so that they can attend work."

She added that if the government is serious about getting more people into employment they must "take a comprehensive approach to investing in more holiday and wraparound childcare, while ensuring tax credits really do ‘make work pay’".