Rishi Sunak unable to guarantee everyone will get promised childcare place
The prime minister has been unable to guarantee a childcare place to everyone that wants one, as the government rolls out its new scheme.
Eligible parents and carers of two-year-olds are now entitled to 15 hours of funded childcare per week, as of Monday 1 April, with further extensions planned.
The policy was announced in March last year and is being rolled out as the government lags significantly behind Labour in opinion polls ahead of the upcoming general election.
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But there have been concerns raised about the ability for the sector to absorb the uptick in childcare places which the government wants to offer.
Asked whether he could guarantee everyone who wanted a place would get one, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was unable to provide a concrete assurance.
He told BBC Radio Newcastle that it was “really important to build capacity in the sector”.
Mr Sunak added that the government was working to increase the number of childcare workers, saying it has “cut a lot of red tape” – including making it easier to become a childminder and change locations.
He also pointed to a trial offering £1,000 to people who join the sector.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan was previously unable to confirm everyone would get a place.
Government figures collated by the Department for Education show that the number of childcare providers in England fell from 59,400 in 2022 to 56,300 in 2023.
However, the number of places on offer increased from 1,543,000 to 1,558,100, and the number of paid staff went from 334,400 to 347,300.
Labour has released what it calls a “dossier of childcare chaos” attacking what it calls a “childcare pledge without a plan”.
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Using figures from regulator Ofsted, Labour claims the number of childcare places available fell by 1,000 last year, rather than rising by around 15,000 as the government stats found.
Asked about the discrepancy, Ms Keegan said: “Ofsted doesn’t have complete data – they only have the people who have registered with them.
“So it doesn’t include pre-schools, those ones that are attached to schools – it also doesn’t include childminders.
“So as usual, Labour are looking at the wrong data and looking at the wrong end of the stick.”
Labour has launched a review into early education and childcare, headed by former Ofsted inspector Sir David Bell, to “deliver the accessible, affordable early years education that will give children the best start in life”.
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The Conservatives capitalised on this by claiming the opposition wants to scrap its policy rollout.
In a letter to the Labour frontbench, Ms Keegan said this had caused “uncertainty in the market” as childcare bosses are “unsure whether they should invest in expanding their business”.
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Heidi Alexander says ‘fairness’ will be government’s ‘guiding principle’ when it comes to taxes at next budget
Another hint that tax rises are coming in this autumn’s budget has been given by a senior minister.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was asked if Sir Keir Starmer and the rest of the cabinet had discussed hiking taxes in the wake of the government’s failed welfare reforms, which were shot down by their own MPs.
Trevor Phillips asked specifically if tax rises were discussed among the cabinet last week – including on an away day on Friday.
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Tax increases were not discussed “directly”, Ms Alexander said, but ministers were “cognisant” of the challenges facing them.
Asked what this means, Ms Alexander added: “I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn’t recognise that at the budget, the chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out.
“We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that.”
Ms Alexander said she wouldn’t comment directly on taxes and the budget at this point, adding: “So, the chancellor will set her budget. I’m not going to sit in a TV studio today and speculate on what the contents of that budget might be.
“When it comes to taxation, fairness is going to be our guiding principle.”
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Afterwards, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Phillips: “That sounds to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn.”
He then went on to repeat the Conservative attack lines that Labour are “crashing the economy”.
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Chris Philp also criticsed the government’s migration deal with France
Mr Philp then attacked the prime minister as “weak” for being unable to get his welfare reforms through the Commons.
Discussions about potential tax rises have come to the fore after the government had to gut its welfare reforms.
Sir Keir had wanted to change Personal Independence Payments (PIP), but a large Labour rebellion forced him to axe the changes.
With the savings from these proposed changes – around £5bn – already worked into the government’s sums, they will now need to find the money somewhere else.
The general belief is that this will take the form of tax rises, rather than spending cuts, with more money needed for military spending commitments, as well as other areas of priority for the government, such as the NHS.
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