Blackburn nurseries worried about 30 hours free childcare plan

In an effort to remove barriers to work, Jeremy Hunt promised up to 30 hours a week of free childcare for eligible households in England with children as young as nine months, instead of three and four-year-olds under the current policy.

The phased policy, which will be fully introduced by September 2025, will be worth up to £6,500 a year for working families. The plan will cost £4.9 billion between 2027 and 2-28.

While the announcement has been welcomed by working parents, some nursery workers in Blackburn with Darwen are worried about where the funding and staff numbers for this will come from.

Sharon Watts, nursery nurse and manager at not-for-profit Kittens Preschool in Darwen, believes the government “has not thought the policy through”.

A child with nursery manager Sharon Watts (Image: NQ)

She said: “It’s a fantastic idea as parents are struggling massively because they haven’t got the funding formula correct.

“Until they get this right this is never going to work. Nurseries can hardly afford to run as it is.

“We can hardly afford to run and we are a charity that makes no profit at all.”

Early years leaders are concerned nurseries and childminders could struggle to deliver additional places for younger children if the funding provided by the Government does not cover increasing costs.

A number of early years providers have reported struggling financially, with some nurseries forced to close in recent years, due to funding pressures.

The survey Coram Family and Childcare, released last week, found that only half of local authorities in England said they had enough childcare places for children under two.

It also revealed that the number of local authorities in England who report having enough places for the universal 15 hours a week free childcare entitlement for three and four-year-olds has dropped to 73 per cent.

Sharon, who has been a nursery nurse for 27 years, said: “This might impacts of the quality of care and education for children.

"The government have thrown this idea out there but I don’t think they have properly thought about it and the implications.

“I think this is a way to try and get more votes. I can see many parents of this scheme feeling very disappointed as there won’t be enough nursery places, as nurseries won’t be able to fund them properly.”

Sue Chadwick, nursery director at The Old Vicarage Nursery in Blackburn, has welcomed the move and thinks it will help many working parents.

Sue Chadwick (Image: Sue Chadwick)

She said: “We welcome the announcement and see this as a huge benefit to our working parents.”

Sue wishes this scheme had been rolled out earlier.

She said: “The roll out timescale is disappointing for our current nursery families and I’m sure, like us, they are devasted as they won’t feel the benefit because of the timescales given.” 

“I understand why the government has staggered the implementation although it would have been of greater benefit to see this launched in September 2023 rather than the later date of April 2024, particularly as the infrastructure is already in place owing to the current 30 hour offering for three and four-year-olds.”

The Old Vicarage Nursery in Blackburn (Image: Sue Chadwick)

Although Sue doesn’t have any concerns about how far the government’s funding will stretch to accommodate these free hours, she doesn’t agree with the change of minimum staff-to-child ratios, from 1:4 to 1:5 for two-year-olds in England, which the Chancellor says will be “optional”.

She said: “I have absolutely no worries or concerns about the additional funding, provided the scheme mirrors the current 30 hour offering for three and four-year-olds”.

“The increased ratios is not in the best interests of the children or the staff, so we will remain on a 1:4 ratio for the foreseeable future.”

Clare Roberts, chief executive of Kids Planet Nurseries, which has a site in Blackburn, said she is delighted for parents but also worries that there will not be enough funding to adequately care for children.

She said: “We are delighted to hear of the increase in childcare support for parents with younger children, which will help our parents with the cost of childcare.

“For us as a provider, the key issue is around what the funding rates are and if all ages will be adequately funded.

“The current three and four-year-old funding rates do not cover the delivery of high-quality childcare.

“We welcome the communication on the increase rate for two-year-olds which the government has announced, and we look forward to further clarity on the rates for one to four-year-olds.”

Clare has also expressed concerns about the ‘workforce crisis’.

“Another critical factor for us as a sector is that the workforce crisis needs to be addressed,” she said.

“Early years is facing the worst workforce challenges it has seen, with significantly fewer colleagues joining the industry over the last 10 years.

“Covid and Brexit have further impacted this with many colleagues choosing to leave the profession. This is an ongoing problem that the sector continues to highlight to the department of education and central government.

“For the government’s new policies to be fully implemented, there will need to be a full overview of the workforce and the level of qualified and unqualified colleagues joining.

“This will help providers to be able to meet this further demand, which will benefit the economy and families accessing childcare.”