Live online chat with The Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP, Minister for Children, on Thursday 24th May 1-2pm

[carriemumsnet]

Hi all

Ok this is your chance to have your say about what, in an ideal world, you'd like to happen to childcare, nurseries and pre-schools (as well as debate what's happening in the sometimes non ideal world). The Rt Hon Beverley Hughes, Minister for Children and mum of three, will be joining us for a lunchtime chat on Thursday 24th May, so bring your sarnies, get your questions ready and join us then. For those of you who have unavoidable lunchtime commitments (and letters from your mum to prove it) we'll let you post your questions in advance here. For the rest of you, we'll see you on the 24th.

bossykate - yes he does.

My question: What do you think a minister for children should do? What's the remit?

And another (sorry if already asked, haven't read thread):

What does Beverley Hughes propose to do, if anything, about the secrecy of the family courts (who jailed Sally Clarke and other women, for crimes they didn't commit)?

lolly68 - this is a precis of what my accountant explained to me, i have just set up my own company.

my company can pay me a salary of x amount each month and can deduct £243 childcare voucher entitlement, no different to any other employee in any other company.

my company then has to pay £243 from the company bank account to the registered childcare provider - you don't need to use a voucher scheme, a direct payment is fine.

childcare costs cannot be offset against the corporation tax liability.

hth!

And another:

Two women per week are killed by their partners or ex partners. In many situations (at least 750,000 children a year) children see violence perpetrated against their mothers or are also victims of it themselves. 29 children have been killed over the past 10 years as a result of domestic violence and in 5 of these cases contact was ordered by a court. What does the minister propose to do to tackle this? Both domestic violence and court contact orders which do not take account of domestic violence.

(all figures from Women's Aid)

Bossykate - thank you. I will tell him tonight.

I will try to be around tomorrow (I'm working from home in a desperate attempt to spend more time with my 9 month old son). But in case I don't make it, I would like to know when the government is going to consider encouraging large employers, like county councils for example, with thousands of employees to provide subsidised on-site childcare. In my town all the nurseries are full up and childminders are scarce, particularly for under 2s, and I was very lucky indeed to get a place for one day a week. [My DH looks after him the rest of the time]

I also have another very important question. When is the government going to stop the shameful situation where so-called "second" families end up living almost on the poverty line while the CSA take huge amounts of their income to fund the "first" family's lifestyle? Maybe the new system addresses this, maybe not, but we're still on the old system.

Good post Twinklemegan.As an NHS employee,the provision of ANY childcare is absolutely appalling.I pay the vast amount of my part time wages toward childcare,for two children in a private nursery.This comes to about £90 per week and I earn about £500 per month.Considering the fact that my profession is predominantly female and that the NHS is the third(I believe) largest employer in the country you would have thought that they would have been able to effectively plan some decent subsidised childcare."Family friendly" policies are a joke,as by making requests you are frequently made to feel that you are being unreasonable as an employee as "Set days cannot be guaranteed" say my employers.How come Scandinavian countries have such and enlightened outlook and we are still existing in the dark ages???

I'd like to know why,when the government boasts about x number of hours of free childcare per week,we are dictated to when we can use that time?

My dd1 is at pre school from 9-3 today,but can only use 2 of her 'free' sessions.This means I either remover her for half an hour twice a day,thus meaning I can't work,or paying the full hourly rate for the 2 half hours the sessions don't cover.She isn't using her full 'free' allowance,purely because it is neither cost effective or practical,the way the current rules stand.

I would also like to see an allowance for grandparents who look after their grandghildren.If it wasn't for my mum,I wouldn't be able to afford to go to work at all.

I'm dying to ask "Would her children have attended local state primary and secondary schools if she had lived in a less posh area than Trafford?" but that's probably a bit below the belt.

Instead I'll ask: does the Minister think that all schools should ideally have after-school clubs and breakfast clubs and, if so, what provisions are being put in place to ensure this?

the extended schools program is doing that atm uqd

Hi everyone and a big welcome to Beverley Hughes MP, Minister for Children. Beverley has promised to try and get through as many of your questions as possible in the next hour. We can?t guarantee that everything will get answered, but she's going to give it a good try.

Over to you Beverley....

Thanks Carrie, and thanks to everyone who?s taken time to post your questions to me. I?m here because I want to hear about your views and experiences about childcare, preschool and nurseries ? and anything to do with young children ? whether positive or not. I?ll do my best to get through as many of your questions as I can in the next hour ? and hope you understand that I may not be able to answer everyone.

Hi Beverley

What do you really beleve is the best childcare for pre-schoolers: mother or paid help such as nursery and childminders?

Satine and Jennyftm asked about financial help for mums who stay at home. What I wanted when my children were very young ? and what parents today tell me they want too ? is a range of good options available so that families can choose what?s right for them. Many want to spend considerable time at home with their children, particularly in the first years, and that?s why we have introduced substantially increased parental leave (for mums and dads!) and extended the opportunities to work flexibly.

The maximum support for families available through maternity pay and child benefits in 1997 was just £2619 for the first year of a child?s life, but since April 2007 support has exceeded £8300. More generous levels of support make it easier for families to decide for one parent to remain at home to care for their children. Greatly increased child benefit, tax credits and the national minimum wage have all helped to make every family on average £1800 per year better off, and families on lower incomes are £4200 better off per year. This helps to give parents choices about how to share work and brining up their children.

But equally, parents should be able to find high quality, affordable childcare, so if they wish to they can work, train and study too ? confident their children are being well looked after in a safe and stimulating environment. And independent research highlights very clearly that good quality pre-school provision (particularly from 2 upwards) has benefits that last well into the primary school years, for all children.

Do you think children should have access to foreign language lessons in primary school as a matter of course? Also music.

Unquiet Dad, Giant Squirrel Spotter and Julie Gillard asked me about wraparound care. We want extended activities to be available to all children and young people who want to use them and most primary and secondary schools already offer extended services. All schools will be extended by 2010, providing access to wraparound childcare from 8am to 6pm and a core offer of activities with at least half of primary schools and a third of secondary schools doing so by 2008. Schools and local providers are working towards this, but it will take time. Over 4,700 ? 1 in 5 of the total ? are already offering the core extended services.

But extended schools cannot offer unlimited hours of wraparound care and that would not necessarily be good for many children. I know it?s difficult to make arrangements for longer periods of time, if you need to travel long distances to work, but there are other options that can help:

Many childminders provide a before and after school service.

We?ve given parents of children under 5 the right to request flexibility at work and this can enable fathers and mothers to share these tasks. I want to extend the right to flexibility to all parents.

There are now good childcare information services in every Local Authority to help parents find childcare that meets their particular needs. The national helpline number is 0800 2346346 ? this number will route you through to your local children?s information service. Information is also available on the website at \link{www.directgov.uk/childcare}

Hello Beverley. What about families who have bought houses in the last few years though and have very large mortgages (we are in a tiny two bed terrace with a huge mortgage)? It is extremely difficult in those circumstances to afford for one partner to stay at home, especially since the help from the Government drops dramatically in accordance with your income. According to my understanding, Child Tax Credit takes no account of whether a family is having their rent paid by housing benefit or struggling to afford mortgage payments.

Yetou, we are increasingly the early years entitlement progressively so that by 2010 all parents will be able to access 15 hours per week of free early education. Currently it?s 12.5 hours a week for 38 weeks for every 3 and 4 year old whose parents want it.

In April this year 20 pathfinder local authorities began offering 15 hours of free early education for 3 and 4 year olds. These local authorities are testing different patterns of flexibility. Learning from these authorities are testing different patterns of flexibility. Learning from these authorities will help us to know how best the 15 hours can be offered across England by 2010.

Taylormama, suzycreamcheese and curve all asked me about the cost of childcare. I do understand the impact that childcare costs can have on the family budget, especially those in lower income households. That?s one reason we are providing substantial help (over £2m a day) through the tax credit system and through the free early entitlement for all three and four year olds at a cost of £3billion a year. This is a very substantial cost, but we think that it?s well worth it.

On detailed tax credit questions, I?m not an expert, but many families can receive up to 80 per cent of the costs of their childcare through the childcare element of tax credits and so it might be worth you calling the HMRC helpline number on 0845 300 3900 or at \link{http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childcare}.

Not sure if this comes under Beverley Hughes' remit, but anyway, I know the governmment is currently actively encouraging employers to make part-time opportunities available at all managerial levels, enabling highly qualified and experienced professional mothers to return to the workplace part-time. It is currently virtually impossible to find more senior part time jobs and this causes strain in lots of families either because mothers have to return full time, or because they don't go back and there are financial ramifications.

My question is what's the current status on this and what else are they going to be doing to get more employers on board. Are there timescales?

Hello Beverley, I hope you can answer mine, and Hunkermunker's questions furtherdown.

Isn't there a more simple way of helping with childcare costs? The tax credit, where your employers pay in vouchers is SO complicated, because it impacts on the benefit you get (not sure if it's CTC or WFTC) - so you have to factor in the tax you save against the benefits you lose. We are both intelligent people, and could not work it out!

UnquietDad, as it happens I don't live in a posh area! And because Trafford has a full-scale 11-plus system, which I don't agree with, my three children all went to a comprehensive school in Hulme, Manchester.