A flagship government childcare scheme is at risk of “falling apart” with parents struggling to access new free hours and nurseries in the dark about if they can afford to provide care, according to charities.
“Yet again it feels as though the planning for childcare funding has been done on the back of a fag packet, leaving providers and parents to pick up the pieces,” said Joeli Brearley, the founder and CEO of the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed.
From April, eligible working parents of two-year-olds in England will be able to apply for 15 free hours of childcare a week during term time, with a wider rollout providing 30 hours to all eligible children from nine months to five years by September 2025.
The Department for Education said there was no fault with the system and that it would share more information to alleviate concerns for parents reconfirming in March shortly.
“We are working to ensure all parents can access their codes in time to use the new entitlements in April and confirm childcare places as soon as possible.”
“It has been incredibly stressful, because with two kids that is a big financial impact, and we had actually planned our second child around the new free hours.”
The original article contains 829 words, the summary contains 208 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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A flagship government childcare scheme is at risk of “falling apart” with parents struggling to access new free hours and nurseries in the dark about if they can afford to provide care, according to charities.
“Yet again it feels as though the planning for childcare funding has been done on the back of a fag packet, leaving providers and parents to pick up the pieces,” said Joeli Brearley, the founder and CEO of the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed.
From April, eligible working parents of two-year-olds in England will be able to apply for 15 free hours of childcare a week during term time, with a wider rollout providing 30 hours to all eligible children from nine months to five years by September 2025.
The Department for Education said there was no fault with the system and that it would share more information to alleviate concerns for parents reconfirming in March shortly.
“We are working to ensure all parents can access their codes in time to use the new entitlements in April and confirm childcare places as soon as possible.”
“It has been incredibly stressful, because with two kids that is a big financial impact, and we had actually planned our second child around the new free hours.”
The original article contains 829 words, the summary contains 208 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!