Free childcare plan risks lowering standards, report finds

Published

4 weeks ago

April 24, 2024

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The government’s free childcare programme risks “jeopardising quality”, a report has found, as campaigners warn urgent action is needed to satisfy the otherwise “near-impossible” promise it made to working parents.

Eligible parents and carers of two-year-olds are now entitled to access 15 hours of free childcare after the first phase of the Tory’s plan began this month.

From September, these 15 hours will be extended to all eligible parents of children older than nine months. By September 2025, the government wants all children aged from nine months to five years to be eligible for 30 hours of free childcare.

However, the National Audit Office (NAO) said there is a risk of quality being “jeopardised” by an influx of “inexperienced” early years staff, alongside higher staff-to-child supervision ratios for two-year-olds.

Amid estimates of 85,000 new childcare places needed by September 2025, the NAO said “uncertainties” remain over whether the sector can expand to deliver enough places amid a lack of qualified staff and suitable space.

Only 34% of local authorities, surveyed by the Department for Education (DfE) in March, were confident there would be enough places in their area this September to meet demand.

The timetable for extended childcare was set despite “significant uncertainties” around feasibility, costs and benefits, as the DfE did not consult the early years sector ahead of the announcement, the watchdog said.

Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said: “DfE needs to clarify with urgency what it will do if the early years sector cannot recruit the staff it so desperately needs, to avoid disappointing tens of thousands of parents over the next 18 months.”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance (EYA), said: “With the sector currently facing one of the worst staffing crises in its history, ensuring that there are enough early years places to fulfil the huge promise that ministers have made to parents is likely to be near-impossible without urgent action from government, namely, a comprehensive workforce strategy underpinned by adequate long-term funding for the sector.”

In February, the government launched a £6.5m-backed recruitment campaign to encourage people to work in the early years sector.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We have taken decisive steps to prepare the sector for the next phases, including increasing funding well above market rates, launching a workforce campaign and new apprenticeship routes, as well as providing £100m of capital funding to help expand or refurbish facilities.”

Politics

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will not stand at next election

Published

2 hours ago

May 19, 2024

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Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will not stand at next election

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said he won’t be standing at the next general election but will keep campaigning for the Conservative Party.

In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, which he posted on X on Saturday night, Mr Heaton-Harris said after 24 years in politics, it had been an “honour and a privilege to serve”.

He thanked the people of Daventry, Mr Sunak and former Tory leaders, including Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, “for putting their trust in me”.

Mr Heaton-Harris, who has been serving as Northern Ireland secretary since September 2022, said: “I started as a campaigner and I’ll be out campaigning for @Conservatives at the next election because we are the only party that has and can deliver for the whole of the United Kingdom.”

He joins an exodus of Tory politicians who have announced they will be leaving Westminster at the next general election.

More than 100 MPs from across the Commons have said they will not be standing.

Those who have announced their intention to leave parliament range from the longest-serving female MP, Labour’s Harriet Harman, to one of those only elected at the last election in 2019, Conservative MP Dehenna Davison.

Of the more than 60 Tory MPs stepping aside, high profile names include former cabinet ministers Ben Wallace, Sajid Javid, Dominic Raab and Kwasi Kwarteng.

Back in March, Mrs May, 67, said she too had taken the “difficult decision” to quit the Commons after 27 years representing her Maidenhead constituency.

The last possible day for a general election is Tuesday 28 January 2025.