Lack of funded places for children to access their 30hrs childcare
The struggle to fund thirty hours free childcare is evident across the board. Recent surveys revealed those families on a more meagre means are missing out on places due to lack of funded nursery spaces available.
The latest figures from the Department for Education showed that fifty thousand codes have been issued and yet large proportions have not yet been validated. Thus highlighting the growing struggle for families to find a nursery place.
Nurseries just cannot meet the demand on the budgets outlined.
Insufficient funds mean the 30hour places are not cost-effective and so nurseries are reluctant to offer many.
One in four poorer parents feels they have been deprived of a nursery space due to working families being offered first choice of the nursery places.
Figures show just ten percent taking up the offer were from deprived backgrounds. Settings have to pass on costs such as nappies and milk onto families to make business ends meet. The cost to business of employing highly qualified experienced and reliable staff and delivering a high-quality curriculum and service with good practice is imperative but unattainable.
The funding is available to working families where both parents work or the sole parent in a single parent family is employed more than sixteen hours per week.
Something has to be resolved soon as the current system is fast breaking down.