30 hours for 1.5 year olds and over expected tomorroe

[QforCucumber]

As per the attached! This would help people so much

Oh my gosh really?

If this isn't real - and is for everyone not just those on benefits - it would make such a big difference to us.

This is disastrous for early years settings already at crisis point it's simply not viable with the funding the government provides.

the government should allow nurseries to charge a top up fee then, problem solved and parents still save money.

What I don't get though is why staff are so underpaid? I pay £62 a day for my 1 year old which has the lowest ratio of I think 1:3. So for every worker the nursery is getting an income of £180 for those in the baby room and more for those looking after older children. Obviously the nursery staff are on nowhere near £180 a day. And whilst I get food, heating, insurance, VAT etc needs to be paid out of that where is the rest of the money going? Because for 3 children I can't see it is costing the nursery more than £180 to look after those 3 children for the day.
Or does this just stem from how the 15/30 free hours from the age of 2 aren't funded correctly?

We pay £100 per day currently. If this just halves the bill it would make a huge difference.

My salary is £9.50 an hour. I'm in my 40s with 25 years experience. It's disgusting and not a job I do for the money.
I genuinely love the children, that's why I do it but god it's hard.
I barely sit down all day and have all the paperwork to do in my own time.

Some parents treat us like servants and think their children are the only ones we look after, I've nearly been reduced to tears some days the way I've been spoken to by some.

I could honestly cry tonight with this announcement 😭

As if nursery staff aren't working hard enough as it is, the government is now lowering the staff:child ratios. Along with squeezing nurseries financially with this latest offering.

Something does need to be done about childcare provision, I'm not sure this is the best way. People seem to forget that it isn't just childcare, it's early years education. Which needs to be staffed adequelty to allow the practitioners to do this properly, not just punt as many kids as possible on them.

I think it’s provisionally bloody great news! I have a 9 month old and we don’t qualify for UC and can’t afford childcare as it is or a second baby despite earning pretty well. Luckily we have had family offer childcare initially but it feels like a lot to put on them.

Sounds like theres a plan to increase funding per child per hour and I’d be very happy to provide top up funding. I think the government are a shower of shit but unlike with the NHS it really wouldn’t be in their interests to make the childcare sector collapse as they want every last person back at work, so I have a bit of hope it may be more of a positive thing than a negative. Only time will tell.

Anyone who thinks this is even remotely a good idea has clearly been living under a rock. Early years services are fucked and this idea is just the final nail in the coffin.

Why would you not want to pay less if the nursery aren't losing out? I can give my children better experiences if I'm paying less on childcare. It just depends on how the whole thing will work. Same as I want to pay less for all my other bills if I can still get the same service...

I am more than happy to pay the difference, it will still reduce our nursery bill significantly!
Not sure where the money comes from though...

I doubt it will apply to middle income earners who aren't entitled to UC etc. no doubt it will go to those already in receipt of benefits. And probably take years to be phased in too

The move would be to allow those struggling with working and not enough childcare. It’s not to encourage those with 2 kids to have more kids!!

do you really want the ratio for 2-year olds to change?! That would allow more “accidents” to happen.

i am so glad I’m past all this.

I wonder how this is going to work.

The wraparound care here is run by the preschool staff and it had to close yesterday and today due to staff shortages. There are huge waiting lists for the wraparound care, not because of the space available but because of the staff they need to accommodate high numbers.

Last week, in a different nursery down the road, my friend's 4 year old got turned away because of staff shortages and illness. I used this same nursery for my dc1 5 years ago and this never happened then - if staff were sick they would always manage to get agency staff in.

If children already enrolled in childcare settings can't always attend due to staff shortages how are even more children going to get spaces?!

I am surprised it would be worthwhile to offer 30 hour funding for younger children - I thought the only reason it was manageable for the older ones was due to the staff ratios

Would it be better to be given an allowance to spend on childcare?
Years ago, when my DS (now 27!) became eligible for some of the first funding, we had to carry on paying the full monthly fees to the nursery and every half term we were reimbursed the payment the nursery received for him. They would not accept any child purely for the funded hours which at the time was not a full day.
I think the nurseries should be allowed to only offer places to people who were also taking extra paid hours, or to charge a top up, to allow them to pay their staff properly.

I wonder if they will force single parents on UC back to work quicker then. At the moment, you are not required to work until child turns 3 and are then expected to work 16 hours.

I’m glad for those that will benefit and also very sad that it has come too late for me. We couldn’t have a second because of childcare costs (and too old now).

I don’t think many nurseries can afford it though, those paying full fee are propping up the funded places.

Update here: Budget: Jeremy Hunt to announce expansion of free childcare support www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64959611

Free hours for 1 and 2 year olds and increased payments to cover them.

But WHEN is it likely to take effect from? That's the important bit? If it's announced tomorrow does it come into affect from April 1st? Can't imagine it Would since providers would need time to see what places they have at these funded rates

Guaranteed it’ll only be for certain incomes, and the part about loosening the staff to child ratio to save on costs? Jesus wept!

The only outcome of this policy is that many nurseries will close. I feel so sorry for the staff, owners parents and children who will be the ones losing out due to such a shortsighted policy.

Space wise as set by the local county council-as in each gets allocated a literal space within the setting, (Off the top of my head about 1.5 metres squared.) we have 12 spaces available at the school nursery where I work, but due to staff shortages we can't offer these spaces to parents, as we won't be in ratio.

There is such a shortage of qualified staff in our area, that despite trying to re trying for over 6 months we haven't found any new staff.

We can't take an apprentice as we have one already and this would take us over our staff qualification ratios.

So we could take 2 more 2 year olds if the ratio goes to 1:5 as expected. This won't cover the shortfall produced by the funding difference. It simply won't work.

What are they trying to achieve with this policy?
Based on groups im on the overwhelming response isn't "great im gonna increase my hours and work more" its "great I can afford that additional Child we'd previously ruled out because we couldn't afford it".

I promise I haven't been drinking despite all my typos.

• each child
• trying to recruit.

They need to make working in early years more attractive. Fewer people are training to do the job, and we literally can't get the staff anymore. We're down to the minimum ratio as it is and it's extremely hard work already. Changing the ratio from 1:4 to 1:5 may not sound like much, but it means another child to do paperwork for, another nappy to change, another child to feed, child to track and set targets for etc. I know a lot of parents look down on people like me, but it's not an easy job at the best of times.