Is your nursery one of the first nurseries to start offering the 30 hours free childcare?
It has been announced that families living in Wigan will be the first to receive the 30 hours free childcare. Wigan has been chosen as one of the eight pilot areas to provide this free extended childcare. Other areas joining this pilot scheme are Staffordshire, Swindon, Portsmouth, Northumberland, York, Newham and Hertfordshire
The offer of the 30 hours free childcare will start in September; it will provide childcare for over 450 families where both parents must work a minimum of 16hrs a week.
Councillor Jo Platt, a portfolio holder for children and young people at Wigan Council, said:
This is fantastic news that parents will be able to benefit from free childcare a year before the scheme is rolled out nationally. By being a pilot area we can also influence how the system will be brought in nationally along with our partnership work with providers – something which we are experienced in as a former pilot area for supported childcare places for two-year-olds.
The support for working parents also links in well with The Deal for the Future which is about encouraging growth across the borough and what many people need is affordable childcare options which give them the chance to get into work without worrying about those care bills.
The government are supporting the roll out of this free 30 hours childcare by offering £13 million to help support the pilot areas in implementing the expansion of the free childcare allowance.
Further areas have also been identified, by extending the free childcare allowance in these further chosen areas it will help those parents access extended childcare for their children who have a particular need, such as a disability.
For childcare providers, the scheme is still very grey especially when it comes to the amount funding being offered to childcare providers. There are many addressing factors that need to still be considered and ironed out in order for childcare providers to offer the 30 hours free childcare. With no strategy in place to raise the quality of childcare, how is this scheme going to work. Also many nurseries are having difficulties recruit qualified staff.
Yes, the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare is a great support for parents and will help with childcare issues and provide children with a quality start in life. But what about the childcare providers, who may find this a financial struggle?