‘LET US SEE THE GRANDKIDS’
Council appeal for Government to lift restriction on using grandparents in different households for childcare
Sunderland City Council leader Graeme Miller has urged the Government to scrap the new, tighter local COVID-19 rules so that families can continue to rely on help from friends and relatives with childcare.
Sunderland was one of seven local authorities that asked for extra measures to help combat rising infection rates and to avoid a local lockdown being imposed.
The regional councils had asked that the Department of Health Social Care to allow people to enter other households for the purposes of childcare while the main carer was at work.
But that request was rejected by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, with the Government saying only professional, registered childcare can be used – though if a relative is in a “support bubble” with a family, that is permitted.
Now the leaders of the seven local authorities, Northumberland, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham, have written to Mr Hancock urging him to reverse the decision.
Cllr Miller said: "This was a very straight-forward request for the Government and the Secretary of State.
"It is only fair to say that, on behalf of thousands of working parents, the decision that came back was a major disappointment.
"Childcare can be very expensive and many parents in our region have grandparents or other family members and
friends who regularly give their time to help and support.
"I fear many parents might now have to make a wholly unnecessary choice of choosing childcare over their jobs and even their businesses if they are employers.
"This could place many parents with further problems and unneeded economic hardship. We must, and we are, urging Mr Hancock to think again on this.
"There are impacts here on parents, children, schools, employers and businesses
that could have been avoided with a better and proper decision. The message is: Please think again and do the right thing."
The letter reads: “Families across our region rely on the support of their relatives, friends and neighbours to care for their children while parents work long hours, typically in low-pay jobs and often in essential roles such as in the NHS. Such services cannot afford further disruption.
"The hospitality trade, grassroots sports and house
hold mixing are all problem areas and environments in which the virus is given the conditions to thrive.
"Premises in the hospitality trade can continue to operate in a COVID-secure way and sports teams can continue to fulfil their fixtures.
"It therefore seems unjust that employees who have already suffered so much during the course of this pandemic must make the difficult decision of whether to go to work or to stay at home and care for their children.
"As a region, we recognised the spiralling situation that transmissions of the virus were becoming, and we wrote to you seeking the power to step in and take decisive action to allow us act with urgency.
"We are grateful that this request was largely approved but would now ask that you show the same eagerness to recognise the difficulty this additional restriction will present for the many thousands of families across the North East who do not have the means to pay for childcare.”