Free childcare: credit where it is due as working parents get Government support

Even the most dyed-in-the-wool Conservatives will have readily-to-hand a multitude of criticisms regarding the track record of this Government - its list of misdemeanours, cock-ups and catastrophes make Laurel and Hardy appear competent operators.
Pictured: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on whose free childcare policy Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “If there is one thing that the first phase of the entitlement expansion has shown, it’s that simply promising ‘more free childcare’ is meaningless if you’re not willing to invest in the infrastructure needed to deliver it.” Picture: Carl Recine/PA WirePictured: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on whose free childcare policy Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “If there is one thing that the first phase of the entitlement expansion has shown, it’s that simply promising ‘more free childcare’ is meaningless if you’re not willing to invest in the infrastructure needed to deliver it.” Picture: Carl Recine/PA Wire
Pictured: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on whose free childcare policy Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “If there is one thing that the first phase of the entitlement expansion has shown, it’s that simply promising ‘more free childcare’ is meaningless if you’re not willing to invest in the infrastructure needed to deliver it.” Picture: Carl Recine/PA Wire
The Yorkshire Post
By The Yorkshire Post
Published 1st Apr 2024, 12:09 BST

For many, no matter how impressive the rabbits that will inevitably emerge from Tory hats in the coming weeks and months, the damage that has been done renders Rishi Sunak’s party irredeemable.

However, this newspaper is in the habit of giving credit where it is due, and the Prime Minister’s clear determination to help working families with the crippling burden of childcare costs is one such commitment that merits praise.

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As of yesterday, parents of two-year-olds gained access to 15 hours’ childcare per week that is free to them, funded by taxpayers. It is not until you speak to the beneficiaries of this policy that you truly understand the positive impact it has on working parents and often grandparents.

For parents, the support means they can better provide for their young families, not only by earning money to pay the bills and put food on the table but also enabling them to be the role model to their children that they want to be. Setting the right example: hard work brings rewards. For those grandparents who have taken up the childcare slack, it gives them back more choice as to how to best enjoy their hard-earned retirement.

And the credit doesn’t stop there; the ambition to support working parents goes further than 15 hours of free childcare to parents of two-year-olds. From September this year, the Government has promised to extend the policy to working parents of all children older than nine months, ahead of doubling the provision, offering 30 hours of free childcare to all eligible families.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Not even Ollie Hardy could declare this one another fine mess.

Related topics:GovernmentPrime MinisterRishi Sunak

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