In the lead up to today’s budget, I have been chief pest to the Chancellor about the need to reform childcare in the UK.
Childcare is not just an issue for parents as the system has much broader economic effects too.
There are 4 main childcare announcements from today:
The Chancellor announced the government’s plan to offer 30 hours a week of free childcare to all children aged 9 months to 5 years. It will not happen immediately as the childcare sector needs some support and expansion first. This is however a very welcome change as previously the hours only applied to children aged 3 and 4 which caused difficulties to many families across the country.
There will be an increase to the funding for the existing ‘free’ hours that the childcare providers receive. I’ve been making a big deal about increasing the hourly rate and while there is an increase, which is much larger for 2 year olds, I still think this needs some work given the evidence I’ve seen. However, equally I think it’s a half year settlement so we need to look at the details properly.
The Chancellor confirmed that families on Universal Credit will no longer need to pay upfront for their childcare fees. This is fantastic news as currently only 13% of parents are claiming the government’s Universal Credit childcare offer as the system did not work for them.
The government is working to increase the number of childminders we have in the UK, by introducing financial incentives to those who enter the childcare sector. Again, we need to check the details of this but it is positive to recognise what this group of early years experts bring to families.
I am chuffed that the Chancellor has listened to my calls for reform. I have campaigned on all of the above issues with MP friends and the Chancellor has listened. I will not stop though. I’ve long argued for an overhaul of the system, more choice for parents, much lower fees and simpler schemes.
I have not been alone in campaigning on this issue and pay huge tribute to everyone who has supported me and worked alongside me on this including local childminders and nurseries, The Women’s Budget Group Coalition, Onward, The Work and Pensions Select Committee and many more wonderful campaigners.
The fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer made it clear that the early years sector and parents are one of the key elements of getting the country growing is a credit to all of the people who have championed this work.
There were other announcement for Stroud people and families and businesses. I have done lots of press on the Budget today and will do a video update for you all soon so stay tuned!
