Phillipson makes childcare reform first priority as part of mission to break down barriers to opportunity after new analysis shows costs to parents grows despite free hours
|
Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will say
today (Thursday 9 March) that reforming the broken childcare
system will be her “first priority in government”, as
part of delivering Labour’s mission to break down barriers to
opportunity for every child. Phillipson will say, during a
speech to the centre-right think thank Onward, that Labour will not
continue throw taxpayers’ money at the Conservatives’ broken,
“jerry-built”...Request free trial
Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will say today (Thursday 9 March) that reforming the broken childcare system will be her “first priority in government”, as part of delivering Labour’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child. Phillipson will say, during a speech to the centre-right think thank Onward, that Labour will not continue throw taxpayers’ money at the Conservatives’ broken, “jerry-built” system of free hours, which has seen struggling providers given less money by government than the Department for Education says it costs to deliver them. Labour’s intervention comes after new analysis by the Labour party found that the cost of childcare was drastically more expensive now than before the Conservatives introduced free hours of childcare. Labour’s analysis of official data from the Department of Education found that the average cost of an hour of childcare for a two-year-old is now 14% higher than in 2018, shortly after the Conservatives first unveiled the 30 free hours policy. It means that the cost of funding 30 hours of childcare for under twos now costs parents £800 more since the Conservative introduced its system of free childcare hours, in 2017. Labour has said that failure to support providers is driving up prices for parents as nurseries and childminders seek to recoup losses with higher prices for paid-for childcare hours to stay afloat, though this has meant many have been forced to close altogether. Labour’s analysis also shows that more than 15,000 (19%) of providers have now ceased trading since free hours were introduced, while more than 5,000 had closed in this year alone leading to less availability and higher costs. Labour’s own research shows that there are now more than 2 children for every childcare place in England. The party has cited further new analysis of data produced by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies has outlined the scale of financial losses to providers in each English region due to government underfunding of childcare hours. Labour is increasing its focus on developing a modern childcare system to support families from the end of parental leave through to the end of primary school, after the party identified it as a major cause of concern to families in target seats during the cost-of-living crisis. Labour unveiled its plans to offer breakfast clubs for every primary school child in England at its party conference last year, as well as plans to allow more councils to open new maintained nurseries. Bridget Phillipson MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, will say: “The childcare model the Conservatives have built fails everyone, denying parents the ability to work the jobs they’d like, to give their children the opportunities they’d like, and is not of the quality that staff want to provide. “In the Britain the Conservatives will leave behind, tweaking the system we have will not deliver the ambition or scale of reform we are going to need. “Labour’s missions must be central to breaking down the barriers to opportunity in this country. To breakdown those barriers, our Mission commits to reforming the childcare system: that will be my first priority. Ends Notes
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-august-2022 Census data source:
Parents are clobbered by childcare costs as 5K providers closed in a year | The Sun |