Ed Balls cuts school clubs

[swissarmycheese]

as part of £500m education cuts

So there it is, in black and white, in an on the record interview. How much will the extra childcare cost us?

It isn't Labour investment versus Tory cuts. It is Labour cuts, Tory cuts, or Lib Dem cuts. At least the Lib Dems and Tories have been honest about cuts from the beginning though.

Why do people trust a word Ed Balls and Labour say?

Mugglewump, yes nobody can predict the future but it doesnt change things. Unless physically disable where no sort of work is possible (or caring for a disabled child where no childcare is available) than everyone is capable of working to support themselves regardless of relationship status.

Thats whats wrong with the current system, it allows people to chose not to work or to work the bare minimum and to claim a lot of government assistance - probably far more than they will ever contribute in taxes.

I do agree with some childcare assistance though for those who work full time but on low wages - I'd like to see the tax credit system changed though so that those who work part time dont get assistance with top ups or childcare unless a valid reason for not working full time - ie medical condition.

In an ideal world, CTC would be there to help those on full time minimum wages to be able to afford the expensive childcare in the early years. They are then likely to continue working for at least another 35 plus years continuing to pay into the "pot"

Labour have made so many people dependent upon benefits in order to get votes, the Tories seem keen supporters in people supporting themselves which can only be for the good of the country.

"Labour have made so many people dependent upon benefits in order to get votes.."

Could not agree more.

I just find it totally disgusting that at a time when the whole nation will have to pull it's belt in Female Labour MP's are demanding 100,000 salaries and free childcare, if these women can't afford childcare then who can fgs?

pointydog, the fact is that he did promote after-school clubs as childcare. He did it on Mumsnet!

Let me remind you again, just so you can see how astonishingly brazen a hypocrite he is, what he said, right here on MN, just 5 months ago:

Ed Balls: All good schools are already providing before and after school clubs and every school must be by 2010. We've given them the money and they should get on with it. It is true that part of the purpose of before and after school clubs is to make things more flexible for parents and that schools can only provide that kind of childcare for parents who are asking for it, but these clubs are also about helping children to learn and have fun - and every child deserves those chances.

HappyMummyOfOne, I work, I clean for a living, I wasn't fussy about which job I took, I just wanted one, but I still find myself having to turn down more hours because it will mean I'm worse off.

Yes, you could see that as me being a scrounger and having no work ethic, or you could see it as being canny, and making the most of my time, and being lucky to have a great work/life balance.

I wish there was a way I could earn more in my current job, but there isn't unless I go over 30 hours, and as my job is 5 hours a day there isn't, unless I permanently work 6 days, and that's not on offer.

You need to work at least 16 hours to get Tax Credits, and you will pretty much have the same amount of money working 16 hours as you will working 29. There is a jump at 30 hours.

I want to work, I do work, I'd love a job that wasn't sneered at, and looked down on. I'd love to say I worked in an office, but no one will give me a job.

Really, what am I to do, other than carry on as I am?

Oh, and ask Social Services to get involved as I find paying for Childcare hard.

i think we should stop in-fighting and start getting angry that services that support women getting back into work are being cut - yet we can still send kids out to get shot in a pointless war

I fiond that statement ambiguous, swiss. When he talks of before and after school clubs does he mean the childcare type? After-school Club is proper childcare to me. Then when he refers to 'but these clubs are also about having fun' is he talking acout activity clubs?

Very ambiguous.

I do not think that activity clubs can ever be used in lieu of proper childcare and that the government and any state organisation should be very careful not to make any allusions that it can be.

This is one of the things I was worried about when I posted this thread.

The government give 100% funding for these sorts of things, and then pull the rug out from them, causing huge problems to people who have then come to rely on them. We all need to work on making things sustainable and less prone to the whims of governments! It's clear we can't rely on government to stick to any commitment long-term. And it seems getting women back into the workplace is being hit from all sides at the moment!

why ambiguous?

Ambiguous because before and after school clubs normally mean properly set up childcare facilities.

'these clubs' could refer to the activity clubs.

I do not know of any adult who uses a 45 min-1 hr activity club on school premises as regular childcare. Does that happen? If so, I am surprised.

Happymumofone - can I ask if you work full time, have a partner, how many children you have and if they go to breakfast club/afterschool/holiday clubs?

Thanks.

When ED Balls says 'We've given the schools the money" he's not being entirely accurate - he's actually given it to the LEAs to spend on Extended Schools - which in the case of our borough seems to mean employing someone for 15 hours a week for each of the 7 school cluster in the borough to 'promote' Extended Schools.

This is why I had our representative coming for a 'brief meeting' on Friday. She spent 3 hours spouting jargon at me and trying to get me to redesign our entire website to put Extended Schools at the forefront.
She was particularly keen for me to put details of the Home Access programme on the website, though I did point out that as it is particularly aimed at helping people who do not have computers or internet access, our current policy of putting it in the newsletter and on our community noticeboard might be a little more effective....

i do, i work a certain amout of set hours per week and can work them when i want to

I sit on two extended school cluster groups and the whole thing is a joke. In our area all of the schools were already meeting the core offer and had done so for many years because those of us the vol/comm sector deliver the services.

The schools in the clusters chose not to employ a coordinator, they just divvy up the money between themselves at the start of each year. We never get to see what they've done with it, and get pooh poohed whenever we ask. Oh, hang on I forgot - they did use the first tranche to pay for their VLEs to be developed, even though they were obliged to provide them anyway.

In our LEA there is one officer in charge of overseeing the extended schools work and she has admitted to me that they know it's mainly a waste of time and money but they don't have the capacity to monitor and audit the impact of the expenditure.

Meanwhile, those of us actually delivering the services can't get a penny becuase we are outnumbered by Headteachers who just keep telling us that the money is for schools. .

pointylog, for context, here is the question as well as the answer.

Titchy: A question about before and after-school care: a few years ago the government assured us that by 2010 every school would provide wrap-around care for working parents. You seem to have now back-tracked on this, and now only promise it if there is sufficient demand. Whilst I appreciate it may not be economic to offer wrap-around care if there is little demand, by subsidising it and guaranteeing all parents such care, demand will surely increase, thereby getting stay at home parents back to work. Can you make an assurance that all parents who need wrap-around care will have access to such?

Ed Balls: All good schools are already providing before and after school clubs and every school must be by 2010. We've given them the money and they should get on with it. It is true that part of the purpose of before and after school clubs is to make things more flexible for parents and that schools can only provide that kind of childcare for parents who are asking for it, but these clubs are also about helping children to learn and have fun - and every child deserves those chances.

'I do not know of any adult who uses a 45 min-1 hr activity club on school premises as regular childcare.' - I do, pointy. A couple of mothers I know who work part-time, school-friendly hours factor after-school clubs into their childcare routine - eg, one mother I know leaves work at 3.15, getting to school at 4 to pick her dd up from after-school clubs.

swissarmycheese- I'm a bit about your op

looking at your other (few) contributions on here, I think it looks like you're a Tory party worker putting in a bit of overtime before the election

will have to hand you a

I wondered the same thing, Jack... but all welcome IMO, so long as people are engaging with other posters and not peppering the board with identical posts.

Wonder whether the recent narrowing of the polls has brought Conservative voters out in force? The next couple of months is going to be interesting

Ok. This Extended Schools policy of which you speak, I know nothing. It doesn't happen in Scotland, thank the lord.

It sounds like a mess. It sounds like a very irresponsible scheme of teh govt if they claimed that these rather ad hoc activity clubs were proper childcare. They obviously are not.

Up here, lots of funding has been put into Active Schools co-ordinators and they organise some fab activity clubs during lunch and after school but no one has ever pretended they are proper childcare or that they will always continue indefinitely.

I don't know much about it either pointy, but our school has a Children's Centre and does the whole wraparound care thing, from 8am till 4pm I think (possibly even later).

I think we need some clarification from the DCSF about exactly what Balls means by what he said - are they rowing back on wraparound care as a principle, or just saying that parents need to pay the full cost of the clubs?

Extended Services - the Mumsnet microsite.

hmm, I see. Thanks rusty.

It's all nice and simple here and I prefer not to have any edges blurred.

Yes, this, for instance, is clearly a Tory thread .

Is it now a sin to hate Labour? In my Youtube thread, I am praising the Lib Dems for backtracking on their idiotic blocking amendment. That same idiotic digital economy amendment, introduced by Lib Dem lords, was supported by Tory lords, who are just as moronic.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am a PhD student, and I do not belong to any political party or support any political party. I do, however, hate Labour and Gordon Brown and can't wait for him to be kicked out.

"Is it now a sin to hate Labour? "

I hate Labour and i'm a conservative, but i've been on here a couple of years so does that not count?