Drive to reduce the cost of childcare for parents
Package of measures will increase childcare support for parents, boost the number of childminders and drive take up of childcare offers, to address rising costs.
Press release
Published by: Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions, HM Treasury, Will Quince MP, Helen Whately MP, The Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi MP, and The Rt Hon Thérèse Coffey MP
Published on: 4th July 2022
Read the full Press Release Here
The government has announced ambitious new plans to improve the cost, choice and availability of childcare that will benefit hundreds of thousands of parents across the country.
- A new consultation will look at increasing the number of children that can be looked after by each staff member in early years settings.
- Increase choice and affordability for parents by taking action to open up the childminder market by supporting more people to become childminders in a number of ways.
- Streamline the Ofsted registration process for providers.
- Encourage the growth of Childminder Agencies.
- The Government is also driving a renewed campaign via the Childcare Choices website, so parents can access the support they are entitled to.
- The Government will explore how to improve recruitment and retention of staff in the sector.
Also announced today (4th July 2022), is an additional £10 million investment for Maintained Nursery Schools, into the supplementary funding they receive from 2023-24. These settings often care for some of the most disadvantaged children in the country and have additional costs that other early years settings do not – such as the requirement to have a headteacher – because they are constituted as schools.
The Government has recently launched a new website which brings Government support on offer together in one place so the public can see what support they could be eligible for: www.gov.uk/costoflivingsupport.