Councils are uncertain as to whether areas will have enough childcare places to offer the free childcare scheme
As many of us know that from this September the Governments 15hrs free childcare scheme will increase to 30hrs for working parents, however, there is uncertainty that there will not be enough childcare places to be able to increase the hours for these working parents.
According to a poll conducted by The Family and Childcare Trust it has highlighted that over half of 112 local authorities that completed the survey said they didn’t even know if they would have enough childcare places for those preschoolers that would be eligible for the increased hours. A third responded saying there would be sufficient places, while 13% said there would not be enough places available.
The survey also highlighted that more than a third authorities stated that they thought childcare providers in their areas would not be offering the 30hrs free entitlement
Additional questions asked during the survey related to the possibility of childcare providers raising their fees as well as would the 30hrs free childcare scheme cause a reduction in the quality being provided?.
- 66% would make no difference
- 32% unsure
- 2% said it would be affected
For the rise in childcare costs
- Half (56%) did not know if there was going to be an increase
- 63% were unsure
- 37% said it would increase for three and four-year-olds
- 23% sais it would increase for the younger children
Many childcare providers are worried about the uncertainty of staying sustainable, with funding being given not even covering the cost of delivering the free childcare hours. While this scheme is to help working parents, where is the incentive for childcare providers in delivering this scheme?