‘I’m not in control of all the bits’, says minister as chaos hits timetable for free childcare plan
EDUCATION Secretary Gillian Keegan yesterday warned she ‘can’t guarantee’ that the Government’s flagship pledge to boost childcare provision will be rolled out on time.
In the first official acknowledgment that the policy may be in trouble, Mrs Keegan said she was ‘not in control of all of the bits’ needed to deliver it on schedule.
Rishi Sunak said last month that all eligible children in England will be able to benefit from the Government’s expanded childcare offer, which is due to be phased in from the spring. He said the ‘practical issues some families are facing’ would be resolved in time.
As part of a staggered rollout of the policy, working parents of two-year-olds should be able to access 15 hours of free childcare from April. This will be extended to working parents of all children older than nine months from September. From September 2025, working parents of children under five will be entitled to 30 hours’ free childcare a week.
But childcare providers have warned they may not have enough trained staff to offer places to all those who are eligible. Last week the Government announced plans for a £1,000 bonus for recruits in a bid to improve numbers.
Mrs Keegan said yesterday she was ‘confident’ that the deadlines for the scheme would be hit. But she acknowledged that, with the policy due to be delivered by thousands of small businesses, some elements were not fully under the Government’s control. She told Times Radio: ‘I’m pretty confident that we can deliver, but when you’re working across the country with tens of thousands of businesses, I can’t guarantee something that’s in the future.’
Childcare is set to be a key elec tion issue, with Mr Sunak hoping the expansion of provision will persuade millions of parents that the Government is on their side. Mrs Keegan said the policy would save the average eligible parents £6,500 a year on childcare costs.
More than 100,000 parents of two-year- olds in England have registered for codes to access the 15 hours per week of funded childcare which starts in April.
Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in England say they are being inundated with calls and emails from families who want to take up funded places. And parents in some areas say they are facing long waiting lists.
Former Tory education secretary Justine Greening said it was going to be ‘very challenging’ for the Government to deliver the pledge on time – and suggested the Department for Education was playing ‘catch-up’. She told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg Show: ‘It is a key test of competence for Rishi Sunak’s Government.’
Mrs Keegan said she was focused on ensuring there was the workforce and investment available to ‘grow the places’ for childcare that ‘I know parents are absolutely desperate for’. Labour education spokesman Bridget Phillipson, who is working on a rival childcare offer, said the Government’s policy was on course to be ‘another broken Tory promise’, adding: ‘This was a pledge without a plan.’
‘Can’t guarantee something in future’