Providers call for greater government support as funded childcare expansion rolls out
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Sector leaders have called for “urgent” support from government as the first phase of its funded childcare expansion rolls out.
The Department for Education expanded funded childcare to enable eligible working parents of two-year-olds to access 15 hours of childcare support from 1 April.
The scheme is set to be further expanded from September to offer 15 hours of childcare support for eligible working parents of children from the age of nine months to three years.
From September 2025, eligible working parents with a child from nine months old up to school age will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare a week under the plans.
Providers have raised concerns over the plans since it was announced in last year’s Spring Budget.
Recent research by the Early Years Alliance (EYA) shows that providers across England will struggle to meet increased demand for places due to the expansion.
It found that just under two thirds of providers that currently offer non-funded places to two-year-olds are planning to offer additional funded places under the scheme.
Meanwhile 19% of respondents to a poll by the EYA said it is likely or very likely that their settings will opt out of at least some of the offers by September 2025.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the EYA, said: "If there is one thing that the first phase of the entitlement expansion has shown, it’s that simply promising ‘more free childcare’ is meaningless if you’re not willing to invest in the infrastructure needed to deliver it.
"A combination of sustained underfunding and minimum wage rises has forced many providers to increase fees at an even higher rate than normal just to stay afloat – meaning that even those parents who have been able to access places are likely to see sharp increases in the cost of any paid-for hours.”
He added: "With just five months to go until the next phase of the expansion, which is likely to result in an even greater increase in the demand for new places, it’s clear that urgent action is needed from government.
"For there to be any chance of this policy being rolled out successfully over the long term, ministers simply must tackle the fundamental problems facing the sector: that means adequate funding – so that settings can both keep prices low and offer the kind of wages that ensures that they can attract and keep quality staff – and a clear workforce strategy that focuses on retention as well as recruitment.
"Ministers have made a big promise to parents. Only by providing the support that the sector needs will they be able to keep it."
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan described the roll out of the new scheme as a “landmark moment” noting that 150,000 children would benefit from the expansion of the scheme.
“This will be a lifeline for working parents, building up to this government’s plan for the most comprehensive childcare support in this country’s history by 2025,” she said.
Supporting the move, Chris McCandless, chief executive of nursery chain Busy Bees Europe, said: “We’ve already seen a significant increase in interest in our nursery places in recent months from parents looking to make use of the funded hours, and expect to welcome more children to our nurseries this year and in subsequent years as the scheme expands further.”
Meanwhile, Keegan has written to Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson and shadow chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves, asking if the opposition will “commit to supporting our policy of giving working parents 30 hours of free childcare a week from when their child is nine months old to when they start school?”
Whilst this @Conservatives government is rolling-out the largest expansion of childcare in our country’s history, Labour are refusing to come clean what their plan is for childcare.
— Gillian Keegan MP (@GillianKeegan) April 2, 2024
My letter to the Shadow Education Secretary and Shadow Chancellor 👇 pic.twitter.com/qei2KiHHR5
Responding on X, Phillipson said: “If she can’t guarantee every parent gets the childcare they were promised, then her policy, like her pointless letter to me, isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”
Labour has yet to announce its policy on funded childcare.
