Parents turning to nurseries for advice following children's centre cuts

Childcare experts have said the widespread closure since 2012 of children's centres and reduction in services offered at some other sites is seeing parents turn to nurseries for advice on employment issues, benefit entitlements and how to access free childcare funding.

Ruth Pimentel, chief executive of Toad Hall Nursery Group, which has 16 nurseries in the south of England, said she has noticed a decline in information for parents around childcare support.

“I’ve noticed, with the demise in children’s centres and access to information, how hard it is for parents to know what they’re entitled to," she added.

Pimentel recently participated in an evaluation with the Family and Childcare Trust to improve nursery managers’ ability to talk to parents about their eligibility to childcare support.

She added: “Where as before you would potentially refer to children’s centres to give parents the access to information, with those declining I felt like I needed to ensure my managers at least knew where to signpost parents to help them with childcare costs.

“We have certainly noticed that it’s harder to signpost parents to further information.”

Jane Murray, senior lecturer in early years education at the University of Northampton, is undertaking research into the impact that free childcare for the most deprived 40 per cent of two-year-olds is having on parents' access to work.

She said the loss of children's centres in some areas had affected the support available for families trying to find employment.

“With centres closing down that [employment support] is being lost quite a lot,” she said.

The extent of closures of children's centres is hotly contested - estimates range from 250 to 700 - and earlier this year CYP Now research suggested that around 400 children’s centres are at risk of closure across England this year. 

Liz Bayram, chief executive of Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (Pacey), said nurseries are unable to fill the void in support left by children's centre closure.

"Childcare settings have always provided informal advice to families but don't have the capacity to pick up the pieces once professional family support is lost when a centre closes,” she said.

“With plans to extend the free entitlement to 30 hours a week for eligible families already underfunded for many settings, childcare providers are also now facing complex proposals on how eligibility checking will be conducted.  

“This is only going to add to this challenge and Pacey is raising concerns that these additional burdens will place further pressure on childminders, nurseries and pre-schools,” she said.

Michael Pavey, director, Labour Friends of Sure Start, also said it is unrealistic for nurseries to pick up the support left behind by children’s centre closures.

"With the cuts to children's centres, it is natural that families turn to nurseries instead," he said. "But the nursery sector is already under unprecedented strain."

Marg Randles, co-founder and managing director of Busy Bees Childcare, said: “With the demise of children's centres communities will lose essential support. It is essential that the sector find ways to provide the support parents desperately need.
 
“It is still early days so at this stage we are only hypothesising but it is possible that we will see a correlation between the closure of a state led provision and an increased need for nurseries to provide additional family support.
 
“In areas where there is greater demand for family support there will be a displacement, and therefore a shift in care from children’s centres to early years provisions. However, the impact could also, in part, be a reaction to the increase in the amount of free childcare on offer for working parents.”