Education Minister has today announced a £55
million package of measures for early learning and childcare that
will include an extension of the Northern Ireland Childcare
Subsidy Scheme to cover school-age children.
Speaking after Executive approval of the support measures, the
Minister said: “Today, the Executive agreed an additional
£55m investment in early learning and childcare in 2025-26. On
becoming Education Minister, I pledged to help working
parents with the cost of childcare and I am very pleased to
announce that the Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme will
be extended to include school age children from 1 September
2025.
“Last year, my priority was to develop a subsidy scheme
that would reduce childcare costs for the parents of very young
children, who often experience the greatest costs. So far, the
Childcare Subsidy Scheme has saved Northern Ireland parents
approximately £8m which they would have had to pay in childcare
fees.
“I now want to build on this and support a much greater
number of parents with the costs of childcare. Since the Scheme
launched in September 2024, there have been repeated calls to
extend it to school age children. Today's funding boost will
allow us to do this and provide support for a much larger group
of working parents. It is estimated the number of children who
could benefit from the discount will now increase by 60%, from
the current 15,000, to approximately 24,000.
“This means that the working parents of school age
children will now receive the 15% subsidy, up to the capped
amount, on their childcare bills. When this is combined with Tax
Free Childcare, it will provide a reduction of up to 32% on
childcare bills.”
Turning to other initiatives, the Minister continued:
“Today's investment will enable the significant progress
that has been made over the past year to be sustained, with
further growth in key areas. I am now able to
expand vital early years services such as Sure Start, the Pathway
Fund, Toybox and the Bookstart Baby Programme.
“Over the next year I will also continue the expansion of
pre-school education towards the goal of providing 22.5 hours per
week for all children in their immediate pre-school year. At
least an additional 100 settings providing the next cohort of
2,000 children with a full-time place will be available by
September 2026.
"Combined, the package of support reflects my ongoing
commitment to prioritise early years, given the impact this can
have on children's future outcomes, particularly those from more
disadvantaged backgrounds or with additional needs.”
The measures to be implemented in 2025-26 represent the next step
in delivering the Programme for Government commitment to provide
“More Affordable, Accessible, High-Quality Early Learning and
Childcare”.
Reconfirming his intention to bring forward a comprehensive Early
Learning and Childcare Strategy by autumn 2025 which will set out
an ambitious plan for the longer-term, concluded: “There is
much that could be done, but there is a limit to what can be
achieved this year with the funding available. Over the past
year, we have made real progress across a number of areas and the
measures I am announcing today will maintain that momentum. I
look forward to publishing an Early Learning and Childcare
Strategy later this year.”
