30 hours for 1.5 year olds and over expected tomorroe

[QforCucumber]

As per the attached! This would help people so much

The Tories want everyone working, get those mums back to work and the old people out of retirement. Never mind the important early years in a child's development. Many nurseries are simply day care centres and I don't think the best environment for long days at a time. How about a scheme which pays one parent to be at home with their child?

I work, had no choice but to scrimp and save but I regret I'll never have those early years back. They're gone now.

It's pie in the sky unless they increase the funding to the providers who've been massively underfunded for years.
As a provider I'm dreading tomorrow's announcement because there's already a drastic lack of childcare with settings closing daily due to underfunding and the cost of living crisis.

Whilst it may be great news for parents the reality is that unless the funding is increased it just won't work especially with the rumours of relaxations in ratios which are quite frankly dangerous and these won't bring down costs either. Depending on what's delivered tomorrow will depend on whether settings are prepared to muddle on longer or close.

I work in a nursery and we have been trying to recruit a new staff member for the past 6 months, with no luck. People apply but they are either not qualified and have zero experience, or they don't turn up for interview 😕 We may have to close soon, even though we are graded Outstanding and have a waiting list.

I know you've probably already considered it and would have an issue supporting the training but could you not hire and apprentice? At least then you get a little bit of government funding towards wages

I think I’ve read that the money paid to nurseries will increase. That doesn’t actually mean that it’s going to increase to what it actually costs nurseries to run. Especially given how much the cost of running a nursery has increased over the last year.

I’d say it almost certainly won’t cover the costs of running the funded places but it would be nice to be proved wrong.

Yes parents definitely need more help with funding but it will come at a huge cost. I don’t want to look after more than 2/3 children a day to earn a living because the funding won’t be enough. I charge £95 a day where I live and the funding (which we are supposedly not allow to ask a top off for) is £5.50 per hour. I love my profession and I take great care of my little ones but £55 pounds per child ? That is what I was charging 8 years ago when I started.

Wow. It was a tougher slog not having this.

Well that will reduce the Universal Credit bill for the government.

it Sounds good but they’ll draft it all wrong. Currently you get 30 hours if you earn the equivalent of minimum wage for 16 hours. So there are loads of people working 2 days a week and having their kids in nursery full time. Meanwhile, the parents of the 6months - 3yr old children who aren’t entitled to free hours pay extra to subsidise the free spaces that the government haven’t funded properly.

I don’t want nurseries to be overrun with children that they can’t afford to look after properly, standards lowered etc to deal with it.

instead of doing a blanket 30 hours they should be subsidising then spaces of children of working parents to make it affordable for everyone. I pay £67 per day, 4 days a week and I only use nursery when I’m actually working. I’m not entitled to any free hours. Yet someone working 2 days a week somehow gets 30 hours free!

Agree entirely! It's all wrong!

My 2 year old son goes to pre-school and previously attended nursery at the age of 1, it was soo difficult trying to find him a space due to 2 local nurseries having recently closed. I am due another baby soon and have already been trying to secure a place for Jan 24, so many settings coming back to me to say they have no availability.

I really do worry about the standard of care if this is allowed to happen.

To be completely honest I would rather pay for my son until he's 3 to ensure he receives safe cafe and know that I'm subsidising the nursrry/pre-school by paying for his place, would much rather they keep the ratios as they are to be honest.

I am not sure where the staff will come from. Nursery work is poorly paid.

It seems people are never happy- isn't it at least better than not doing it?

Wow. It was a tougher slog not having this.

compared to when?

I’m confused about why the fee-paying 1 and 2 year old families are keeping nurseries afloat.

If someone has a 2 year old and pays a nursery £500 a month, and someone else has a 3 year old, do the government not cover the full £500 for that kid? Why do the nursery lose out? Do they only get a proportion of that £500 from
the government?

If someone has a 2 year old and pays a nursery £500 a month, and someone else has a 3 year old, do the government not cover the full £500 for that kid? Why do the nursery lose out? Do they only get a proportion of that £500 fromthe government

The gov only pay a small amount

To what’s about to happen. Too late for us dc are past the age.

I thought that was probably the case. Do you know the rough percentage of the money that the nursery sees from them?

@Childminder1987 that would be absolutely dependent on location Too though surely - we are in the north east, you wouldn’t find a single childminder in our town charging more than £40 a day, I know. I’ve spoken with most of them when looking for ds2 a full time place.

Then you are missing the point completely. It's all good and well the government saying we're doing xyz for parents to make childcare more affordable then paying the settings a massive underfunding and expecting them to deliver. Let's not forget that if they are going to fund from the age of 1 that will drive more people to look for work and childcare spaces that simply are not there as many settings have already closed.

To what’s about to happen. Too late for us dc are past the age.

so are mine but even a few yrs ago my childcare was a lot cheaper

And it's a tougher slog surviving generally than it has been previously

@Username721 it depends where you are I think so in London it's £6.23 approx per hour for a child whereas a nursery would probably charge £10 a hour. Plus it's only for 38 wks of the yr.

And it's a tougher slog surviving generally than it has been previously

true dat!

i don't think there is the staff though

@wigywhoo try finding a space for a child, if this happens it'll be even harder. In my area there are waiting lists going up to April 2024 for nurseries.

It's not going to help anyone if there are more people trting to access childcare.

Also as explained previously by other posters the amount the nurseries actually get from 'free hours' is much less than they make from parents of 1 & 2 year olds currently.

I would rather pay for my sons place (like I currently am) knowing he's looked after well than allow this to happen and decent nurseries being forced to close because they can no longer run.