Government accelerates plans to double free childcare allowance

The pledge to boost childcare provision featured prominently in the Conservative manifesto and last week’s Queen’s Speech revealed that the move will be legislated for through a Childcare Bill.

Now the government has said some families will benefit from the expansion from next September as part of a series of pilot projects intended to test out arrangements.

The government has also committed to increase the average childcare funding rates paid to providers.

It said a review of funding rates, overseen by childcare minister Sam Gyimah, will launch before the summer.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “This government is on the side of working people – helping them get on and supporting them at every stage of life.

“That is exactly why we are pressing ahead with these reforms – so that not a moment is lost in getting on with the task – going further than ever before to help with childcare costs, helping hardworking families and giving people the opportunity to get into work.”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance said it is vital that the review is “full, thorough and genuinely takes the views and experiences of early years providers into account”.

Leitch said there is concern that the government is underestimating the scale of the extra funding needed for the scheme.

The childcare extension plans have been estimated at £350m a year, although Leitch said research by his own organisation suggests that this may only represent a quarter of what is actually needed.

The British Association for Early Childhood Education, also known as Early Education, said the review must go beyond the issue of funding, and look into the quality and supply of places.

Beatrice Merrick, chief executive of Early Education, said: “We have many unanswered questions about this policy.  

“Who will qualify for the new entitlement, and will it be those in most need of support including those on zero-hours contracts and in unstable employment, or will this be a subsidy for those already in work which, while welcome for those on tight budgets, has a large dead-weight cost subsidising better off families?

“Many local councils with a track record of providing 30-hour nursery places for the most vulnerable families are having to cut back as a result of austerity, yet not all of the families who have qualified on the basis of need will have all parents in work.

“Will this policy exclude those who could benefit most?”

She added that there are further questions around how many additional places are needed, and where.  

“How will they be created with many schools already using every scrap of spare space to deal with a growing primary-age cohort and two-year-olds, before contemplating an increase in nursery classes?” she said.

“Most importantly of all, how will the government ensure that any new places will be in high-quality provision, so that as well as helping families out of poverty, this policy can deliver the best possible early education to help close the achievement gap for the most disadvantaged children?”