Teesside nurseries concerned about increase in free childcare
Eligible parents and carers of two year-olds in England are now entitled to 14 hours a week
We are hearing how some nurseries in Teesside are concerned about the increase of free childcare, saying the funding doesn't 'come close' to covering the costs.
From this month, eligible parents and carers of two years-olds in England are now entitled to 15 hours a week.
James Howlet, director of Nunthorpe Nurseries Group, said: "We've been going for 34 years now and this past year has been the most difficult in those 34 years, as there's massive amounts of uncertainty and policy being put into place on a whim without providing a consultation. It's extremely difficult to run a nursery and I think this is represented in the vast number of nurseries closing across the country.
"We're expecting to be very busy. We've got waiting lists across most of our settings at the moment. I think the most important take home for parents is that the free childcare is not actually free, it's funded. The amount of money we receive per hour from the Government doesn't even come close to covering the costs to deliver the childcare making it very, very difficult to deliver the Government's new scheme.
"The funding needs to be increased and the paperwork lowered. The application process for the funding is admin heavy and we aren't paid for any of this time. The funding doesn't come close to covering the real cost of delivering the childcare and a business isn't sustainable going forward at the current rates. From September, nearly 80 percent of our children will be Government funded.
"We pay business rates in England when nurseries in Wales and Scotland don't, so any relief on this would bring absolutely enormous benefits. The Government's own extended consultation said that the costs paid to provide us per hour needs to be much higher. They haven't taken note of this and have instead decided to roll the scheme forward to even more people. Nurseries across the UK are closing in record amounts as they can't make ends meet.
"The numbers haven't been properly thought out, providers weren't consulted properly in regards to the scheme. To train and employ staff to deliver the scheme will take years, not months. We didn't even find out the rates we were going to receive to deliver the scheme until four weeks before we had to deliver the product. It's been completely impossible to plan and budget going forward. We feel quite lost and incredibly let down by the Government.
"Like everyone else in our sector, we're currently struggling to recruit enough staff to fill the positions available. This isn't helped with Ofsted only allowing certain qualifications. We feel that the qualification list needs revision, with applicants with degrees in early years applying but because they're without a level 3 in childcare, we can't employ them to work with children."
The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is insisting the policy will create a "brighter future" for families and help grow the economy.
Labour says there are not enough childminders and nurseries to deliver it.