Tory childcare plan in chaos as Gillian Keegan won't guarantee it'll be ready
The Education Secretary has refused to guarantee the Government's childcare pledge will be met on time as she is "not in control of all the bits".
Gillian Keegan said she was "really confident" parents would be able to access an expansion of Government-funded childcare but stressed she could not offer an iron-clad guarantee. It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted last month all eligible children in England would be able to benefit from the Tories' childcare plan.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in March that eligible families of children as young as nine months will be able to claim 30 hours of free childcare a week by 2025. The first phase will see working parents of two-year-olds will able to access 15 hours of free childcare from April.
Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in England are being inundated with calls and emails from families who want to take up funded places. But staff shortages and a lack of availability means parents are being put on long wait lists and could miss out on their preferred nursery or childminder.
Mrs Keegan told Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme she was focused on ensuring there was the workforce and investment available to "grow the places" for childcare that "I know parents are absolutely desperate for". Asked whether she could guarantee that parents of nine-month olds will be able to access state-funded childcare in September, she replied: "You know what you cannot do is guarantee something in the future that you are not in control of all the bits."
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Pressed on why she was not offering a guarantee on the pledge, the senior Tory said: "Guaranteeing something in the future is something that you can never do. All you can do is put all the plans in place and then react if you need to.
"I am really confident that all the things that we have done will mean that every parent who wants to have a place is going to have a place. What you are asking me is to personally guarantee something on behalf of tens of thousands of businesses that are working out there to grow the capacity and to make sure that we have got the people in place."
Labour branded the response as evidence of "another broken Tory promise". Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: "The Education Secretary has made it clear. There are no guarantees that parents will receive their new childcare hours. This was a pledge without a plan - another broken Tory promise."
As part of a staggered rollout of the policy, working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare from April. This will be extended to working parents of all children older than nine months from September. From September 2025, working parents of children under five will be entitled to 30 hours' free childcare per week.
More than 100,000 parents of two-year-olds in England have already registered for codes to access the 15 hours per week of Government-funded childcare which starts in April. Ministers have admitted parents could miss out on funded hours at their preferred childcare setting in April if there is limited capacity.
On Friday Children’s Minister David Johnston said the Government cannot "compel" providers to offer kids "free" hours in April when the first phase of its childcare expansion begins. Mr Johnston said: "I'm very confident that across the country we will have the number of places we need this coming April for the first 15 hours for two-year-olds.
"That may not mean that every parent can have their first choice of nursery because every nursery has a limited capacity. And of course there may well be providers who say that for whatever reason they don't want to take children with the free hours that we're paying for. We can't compel them to do that."
The Department for Education last week announced a £6.5million-backed national recruitment campaign after concerns were raised over staffing levels and capacity to meet the high demand for care. New recruits and returners into the early years sector will be offered £1,000 sign-on bonuses in 20 local authorities in a new trial from April. The “Do Something Big” campaign will look to boost recruitment across the sector by offering on-the-job training and flexible hours.
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