Q&A

THE Government has launched a new 30-hour childcare scheme for working parents with children aged three and four.

All families in England are entitled to 15 free hours a week, but as of today, this will increase to 30 hours for about 390,000 working parents. The idea is to help families with the cost of childcare and encourage more parents to return to work.

The hours are available over 38 weeks – the equivalent of term times – so if it is stretched over a full year it works out at around 20 hours a week.

How does it work?

TO be eligible for 30 free hours, parents must earn the equivalent of 16 hours a

week at the National Living Wage and no more than £100,000.

To claim the extra hours, families need to obtain a code from the HMRC Childcare Service website and give this to their child’s nursery.

The nursery will then apply for funding from the local council. Why are nurseries complaining?

NURSERIES say the scheme is underfunded and that they are not being paid enough by the local council to cover the cost of offering a free place.

Many claim they earn as much as £1 less an hour than they would typically charge parents.

What are nurseries doing?

SOME nurseries have chosen not to offer the scheme, forcing parents who want to take up the offer to move children to a new provider.

Others are restricting when they offer the free hours and charging parents for hours needed outside of these times.

Many are also raising their hourly rate for younger children not eligible for free hours and those who need additional childcare. They are also introducing fees for services that were previously free such as meals, milk and nappies.

In the worst cases, nurseries are closing down because they claim their business is no longer sustainable.