Stuart Anderson MP is delighted that Wolverhampton has been allocated over £1.3 million to ensure that families of primary school children can access childcare between 8am and 6pm. It is part of the Government’s £239 million national wraparound childcare programme, which provides grant funding to local authorities in England to make sure there is sufficient childcare such as breakfast and after-school clubs in their area. Parents should see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needs it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026. The investment will support the testing and delivery of flexible ways of providing childcare that is self-financing and sustainable in the longer term - closing the gap between parental leave ending and the current childcare offer for working parents.
Stuart welcomed the new investment for Wolverhampton, totalling £1,319,730.01. It is part of the next stage of delivery of is the Government’s childcare plan - set to save working parents using 30 hours of childcare, up to £6,500 per year. The funding aims to remove key barriers to setting up new provision or expanding current provision. It will see local authorities work with and fund primary schools and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers, including childminders, to introduce or expand before- and after-school childcare provision in their area where there is a gap in availability. As part of this programme the Government wants local authorities, schools and providers to test flexible approaches and gather evidence of what works. Local authorities are expected to start planning and preparation for rollout of national programme including any recruitment, if not already commenced, by as early as November. The programme should deliver provision that is child- centred, easily accessible, and responds to the needs of the families, including those of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The funding is being distributed to all local authorities on the basis of anticipated need, plugging gaps in the existing market. It will help to deliver the aim that by 2026, no matter where parents live, they should be able to access wraparound childcare for primary-age children in their local area, so that parents can access employment opportunities.
An updated eligibility checker on childcarechoices.gov.uk is now live, and allows parents to access personalised information on the support that is available to them, including which of the new transformational childcare offers they will be eligible for depending on the age of their child and earnings. It comes as the Department for Work and Pensions recently announced an increase to the money parents receiving Universal Credit can claim per month for childcare, which is now up to £951 for one child or £1,630 for 2 or more children. The website will also give parents the opportunity to sign up for regular updates letting them know when they should take action to make sure they are getting the support they are entitled to. This includes when the new 15 free hours for two-year-olds shortly becomes available for sign-ups, with the offer beginning in April 2024. In addition, £100 million is being made available for local areas to support childcare settings in their areas to increase their physical space, anticipated to add thousands of new places across the country. The childminder start-up grant scheme has also been confirmed to open for applications by Thursday 30 November 2023. This grant of £600 for those who choose to register with Ofsted and £1,200 for those who choose to register with a childminder agency will help to boost the numbers of childminders working to offer parents more flexible childcare.
Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said: “No one should have to choose between having a career and having a family, so I’m determined that every parent who wants it should have access to the childcare they need. Flexibility is at the heart of our plans to transform childcare for families, whether it’s offering quality childcare out of school hours or making sure there are more early years places where they’re needed most. This is the largest investment in childcare in our history, so I encourage people with young children or those thinking about starting a family to visit the Childcare Choices website to find out what they’re eligible for.”
Stuart Anderson MP said: “I know from my own constituents the importance of access to affordable wraparound childcare. That’s why I’m delighted that the Government is investing more than £1.3 million in Wolverhampton to improve the availability of wraparound childcare before and after school, thanks to the largest ever investment in childcare. This will be transformative for parents, children and the economy.”