Minister launches £289m fund on visit to Squirrels Nursery

David Johnston visited Squirrels Nursery to announce the fund – along with a £100m cash injection to help providers across England increase their physical space to boost the number of preschool places.

The announcement follows reports of nursery school closures and a rising cost of childcare across the country.

The £289m programme is aimed at local authorities like Hertfordshire County Council to help them “test new approaches” to childcare at either end of the school day, known as wraparound care.

Mr Johnston told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We’re making the single largest investment in childcare ever, which is going to double the amount which is being spent on childcare to more than £8billion per year.

“It will give working parents 30 hours of childcare every week free for every year from when their child is nine months old until they start school.

“The second thing we are doing is putting £289million into wraparound care, because we know that when your child does start school at five, the demand to have people looking after them doesn’t end there.

“By 2026, wherever you are in the country, you will be able to get wraparound care from 8am until 6pm.

“The third point is the [£100m] capital funding.

“What we know, because we have heard it from providers, is that some of them want to build to expand what they are doing, in part to meet the offer we are making to working parents.

“Sometimes that’s about building, and other times it’s about IT systems and so on.”

While the £100m capital funding, or long-term investments, can help childcare providers like nursery schools plan new buildings and upgrade their IT, nursery school associations have warned day-to-day costs are soaring.

In a 2023 survey, the National Day Nurseries Alliance (NDNA) found 98.4 per cent of providers faced a funding shortfall.

The NDNA reported that, in the nine months to December 2022, around 5,656 children faced a nursery closure.

Will providers take up the offer of capital funding if they cannot afford more places in their day-to-day budget?

“Just two weeks ago, I had a primary school in my own patch saying they are going down to two years old because we have a new two years old offer,” Mr Johnston, the MP for Wantage in Oxfordshire, said.

“Don’t take it from the politician.

“The guys here at Squirrels Nursery were just saying to me 30 hours a week from when your baby is nine months old is transformational for families.

“It will enable parents to go back to work, or to take on more hours, or to choose from a wider range of jobs.

“They are hugely enthusiastic about it.”

The Department for Education minister added: “The £289m we are investing is all about ensuring every parent is able to access that until their child has finished primary school.

“We know if you’re doing a nine-to-five job, you probably need that support from eight until six.”

Parents can check whether they are eligible for support using the Department for Education’s updated childcare checker at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Government ‘neglecting’ role of childcare in improving children’s outcomes

Megan Jarvie, head of family and childcare at the charity Coram, has previously warned her sector “is increasingly prioritising childcare for employment and neglecting the role it can play in supporting children’s outcomes”.

The cost of cultural and leisure activities are rising.

In 2018/19, the cost of a one-adult, one-child weekend cinema trip at the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council-owned Campus West was £17.

It now costs £22.

Half-hour swimming lessons for children at the Hatfield Swim Centre cost £25 per month five years ago.

They now cost £30 per month.

“Childcare is a cross-government initiative, but I think it’s not for the government to step in around the cost of cinema tickets and things like that,” the minister said.

“The job of government is to support families with the biggest cost-of-living pressures they are facing at the moment.

“That’s why we’ve been paying towards people’s energy bills, and that’s why we have made this childcare investment.

“When I knock on doors in my own patch, the biggest thing after energy, it’s very much been the cost of childcare which has come up.

“Because that has been one of the biggest things affecting families at the moment, we are making this investment which is going to save families about £6,500 a year.”

Mr Johnston praised the Outstanding-rated Squirrels Nursery in Welwyn Garden City for its “committed, passionate team who are doing a great, great job for children”.

He said: “It was a pleasure to walk around with them and you can see their enthusiasm for giving children the best start in life.”