Parents happy with free childcare scheme
MORE FLEXIBLE working lives and a boost to household incomes are some of the benefits of access to the Government’s 30 hours of free childcare offer, an independent survey has found.
Last September nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in eight pilot areas across the country, including York, began offering working parents double the hours of free childcare places for three and four-year-olds.
And yesterday, ahead of the national roll-out in the autumn, an evaluation based on feedback from parents and childcare providers was published, which concluded that the scheme was likely to be a success.
However, Josy Thompson, who owns three nurseries in Harrogate, said the money being offered by the Government to provide the service still failed to cover the costs of looking after the children and claimed the positive outcome was due to providers charging a top-up fee under the guise of “additional services” such as the provision of food and nappies.
Mrs Thomson said: “It has been a tremendous success and very good for parents and it has had a good take-up. But what the Government isn’t telling you is virtually every nursery has been charging for additional services to make ends meet, which we never did before. The vast majority can’t do it with the funding they are getting, so the unspoken truth is they are charging an inflated rate for additional services.
“We gave been charging around £8 a day on top of funding and parents are very happy to pay that. We are using it to pay wages and cover our costs and it’s allowing us to make ends meet.”
Following the publication of the report yesterday, the newlyappointed Children’s Minister Robert Goodwill, who is the MP for Scarborough and Whitby, paid his first visit to a nursery delivering the 30 free hours.
Mr Goodwill, who spoke to staff at Orchard Trees Nursery, in Thorganby, near York, said: “Different nurseries will have different funding requirements depending on things like rent if they own the premises. They are perfectly entitled to charge for lunch, but what they can’t do is make it a requirement.”
The ‘Early Implementer evaluation’, carried out by Frontier Economics, found that 23 per cent of mothers and nine per cent of fathers reported they had increased their working hours as a result of access to 30 hours, particularly those with lower incomes. It also found that 78 per cent of parents reported greater flexibility in their working life and the vast majority of parents reported improved finances. The report also noted that “providers were willing and able to offer 30 hours and there was no evidence of funding being a substantial barrier to its delivery”.
Mr Goodwill said: “Looking at the big picture, 100 per cent of providers in York have stepped up to the mark and are providing 30 free hours.
“Some nurseries have been worried about the level of funding, as was the case at Orchard Trees, but they are finding their numbers are now actually increasing, so it improves viability.”