The Cambridge Day Nursery has a large lawn with artificial grass where children can hula hoop and play in wooden wendy houses while nature classes take place in a small patch of woodland at the bottom of the garden. Director Liz Aldous acknowledges that such offerings are costly, but is worried about a new policy from the Department for Education. Intended to provide working parents with 30 free hours of childcare per week for three and four-year-olds, the scheme is being threatened by opposition from nurseries and pre-schools claiming insufficient funding. Despite the government’s promise of additional funding by 2019-2020, some providers will not offer the scheme, while others will ask parents for additional charges to make up funding shortfalls. Labour Shadow Minister for Early Years Tracy Brabin deplores the situation, fearing that standards will drop if nursery managers are forced to hire cheaper and less-qualified staff in order to reduce costs. Meanwhile, dedicated nursery owners such as Eve Wort have tragically abandoned their factories of fun in the face of their inability to provide the free childcare.
Following Wort’s closure in July, two other nurseries within a five-mile radius have also shut down. Wort’s owner stated that the entire situation is a mockery, as she would not be able to cover even her basic costs if she offered the 30-hour scheme, and was not prepared to compromise on quality. However, the Department for Education forbids nurseries to provide the 30 hours and then request that parents pay an additional fee on top of what the council already pays for the service. Even though a mother begged Wort to stay open, she did not see any way of compensating for the shortfall in funding.
The Family and Childcare Trust conducted a survey and found that nurseries and pre-schools graded "outstanding" typically pay their staff 12.5% more per hour than nurseries graded "good". In contrast, "requires improvement" or "inadequate" graded establishments generally pay their staff around 20% lower hourly rates than "outstanding" nurseries. Parents such as Sarah Dowzell believed that the government promised free childcare as a means to gain the votes of working parents; she runs her start-up, Natural HR, and was excited about receiving 30 free hours of childcare for her son in September. However, a letter from the nursery stating that the scheme was not financially viable shattered her hopes. The nursery restricted the hours of the scheme to 9am-3pm, mandated parents to take the free 30 hours within these working hours, and charged £28 for any additional hours. Joining the scheme increased her childcare costs by 7%, and she considered this move by the government to be a broken promise.
A survey conducted by the National Day Nurseries and ITV News of 1,147 nurseries found that 54% of establishments will limit the availability of spaces for the scheme with some offering places to just a few children, and one in six did not offer the scheme at all. The Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (Pacey) anticipates a significant decline in the number of registered childminders, as parents opt for nurseries that are willing to provide free places. Pacey’s chief executive Liz Bayram stated that the vast majority of childminders do not intend to provide any funded 30-hour places as they would suffer from a shortfall of more than £400 for every full 30-hour place that they offer. Bayram suggested that this lack of options affects both continuity of care and parental choice.
The Family and Childcare Trust determined that only about a third of local authorities believe there are enough childcare options in their area for eligible families. The Local Government Association (LGA) Chair Richard Watts expressed concern that the funding allocated by the Department for Education will not be sufficient to provide the service for all who wish to use it. He believed that this lack of funding could lead to providers reducing the qualifications of their staff or offering less support for children with disabilities or additional needs. The Department for Education rebutted these claims, insisting the scheme isn’t underfunded, and that the rate paid by the UK government surpassed the average hourly cost of providing childcare arrangements for three- and four-year-olds.
During an interview with Sticky Fingers, one of the nurseries involved in the York pilot, manager Paula Baker stated that the local council had created a funding shortage of approximately £1.20 per hour, per child. In response, Sticky Fingers is now requesting that parents pay for additional items like wipes and nappies, as well as for outings. Before the funding shortfall, these items were provided free of charge. The Department for Education (DfE) recently updated their guidance, stating that parents who receive 30 free hours of childcare can still be expected to pay for additional charges such as meals, nappies, and activities, but the free entitlement place cannot have a fee attached. Neil Leitch, CEO of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, believes that any parent who believes they can receive 30 free hours of childcare without paying for any additional costs is being unrealistic. Leitch is concerned that unless the government takes quick action to close the funding gap, the early-years sector will incur irreparable damages. Three and four-year-old children are already entitled to 15 hours of free childcare each week during term time, but as of September 1st, children will now qualify for an extra 15 hours of childcare as long as both parents work and each earns less than £100,000. Parents must also already be earning at least as much as a worker on the national living or minimum wage would receive for 16 hours a week. A two-parent household with just under a £200,000 income will now receive an additional 570 hours of free childcare, while parents who are trying to return to work will not qualify. Labour parliament member Tracy Brabin stated that even though you must get a job first, most working mothers sort out childcare beforehand.
