Improving the Accessibility of Childcare
Introduction
We want to ensure that a range of good quality childcare is available in every community which allows parents to choose childcare which meets their needs. In addition we want to ensure that parents, childcare providers and employers have ready access to childcare information and guidance which is comprehensive, up to date and user friendly.
We will be:
- promoting significant increases in childcare provision. We have for example in Scotland already committed almost £5 million extra for 1998-99, and a further £25 million over the period 1999-2003 will come on-stream from lottery funding through the New Opportunities Fund;
- ensuring that all four year olds have access to a part-time pre-school place by this winter and, in the longer term, extending similar opportunities to three year olds.
- making progress on meeting parents’ preferences on family friendly employment practices, through dissemination of successful practice and implementation of the EU Directives on parental leave, part-time work and working time;
- helping to meet parents’ preferences on forms of childcare, especially through the composition, plans and operations of local childcare partnerships;
- developing local and national information services, including setting common standards to be applied by local childcare partnerships and setting up an information helpline.
Increasing Chilcare Provision
4.1. It is already clear that a significant increase in the number of childcare places available in different settings is essential to a successful childcare strategy. It is not for Government to fund such increases in their entirety: many families are able to afford their own childcare and many employers rightly see childcare as a business investment. But it is Government’s task to promote a framework within which the childcare needs of communities can be assessed and planned properly and to target areas where the market is not able to respond sufficiently.
4.2. The childcare tax credit (see Chapter 3) will ensure that childcare becomes more affordable for families who need it. In the longer term, this increased affordibility will provide an expansion in the supply of places. However, in order to help families as soon as possible, we will make funding available to boost the supply of places. As part of the Government’s strategy for widening the benefits of the Lottery, the Government has decided that £25 million of Lottery funding will be available from 1999-2003 in the form of grants to providers in Scotland to support the establishment of out of school childcare. The New Opportunities Fund will issue guidance on bidding arrangements and on any advice it needs from local childcare partnerships (see Chapter Five).
4.3. We have, in addition, already put in place range of measures which will lead to major increases in successful, quality provision:
- doubled funding to Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise for the existing Out of School Childcare Initiative;
- provided almost £4 million extra this year in Scotland to sustain and provide childcare places, allow the setting up of local childcare partnerships and help develop information services.
Responding to differing needs
4.4. If we are to help and support more families, it is not enough just to provide more childcare places, important though that is. Parents will not use childcare unless they are confident that it is right for their children, and it meets their own requirements in terms of affordability and availability. Working through partnership we want to develop more options for parents.
4.5. In deciding which type of childcare is right for their children, parents have to balance a wide range of factors. Their preferences are also likely to change as their children grow and their childcare requirements alter. We therefore want to encourage a plural approach which is responsive to :
- parental views about what is best for their children: many parents would prefer to leave their children with a close relative when they are not looking after them themselves. Some feel that their children will thrive in childcare provided on a small scale in a domestic setting, for example by a childminder or a nanny. Others prefer their children to have a wider range of social interactions with other children and adults, as in a day nursery or out of school club. Children with special needs may require carers with special expertise and qualifications. Childcare arrangements must also respect cultural differences and be accessible to parents and children who do not have English as their first language;
- personal circumstances: childcare needs vary widely according to the circumstances of parents, whether at home or at work. Lone parents are all too often not able to rely on a partner to help with childcare. Shift workers may need childcare at unconventional times and may find that childminders are more able and willing to fit in flexibly with such working patterns than nurseries or clubs can. Parents with more than one child may want them looked after together;
- what children want: as children get older, they will increasingly express their own preferences. They may, for example, prefer an out of school club which offers a supportive environment for homework and the chance to play with their school-friends.
4.6. The new provision that is developed under the strategy should be able to meet the needs of all families including those where the children have special educational needs or disabilities and those from ethnic minority communities. It will also be particularly important that the development of childcare services for young children is co-ordinated with education provision. Parents need to be able to choose the mix of early education and day care which they judge appropriate for their children’s needs, whether in formal nursery education or in more informal settings such as playgroups. By the age of three, many children are ready to benefit from education. We are providing early education places for all four year olds and over time we want to extend similar opportunities to three year olds.
4.7. It is of course impossible to tailor childcare services individually for every child and parent. But we do want to increase the range of childcare options at local level and so enhance the choices open to parents. We shall expect local childcare partnerships (Chapter Five) to pay particular attention to the wishes and preferences of parents in drawing up their local childcare plans. It will be particularly important that the development of day care services for young children is properly co-ordinated with education provision. From birth to age three, children’s needs are primarily for a loving, supportive and secure environment (whether at home or in the context of childcare) in which self-esteem and trust can develop. Of course, even the very youngest children are learning all the time and the way that care is provided in this early and crucial period must take account of the child’s developmental needs. By the age of three, many children are ready to benefit from some more systematic opportunities for learning through play, in which their all-round development is carefully observed and promoted and their understanding of the world extended. Pre-school education responds to these needs in a distinctive way - focusing on opportunities for learning through play and helping children to prepare for school (and the lifetime of active learning which lies ahead), but not seeking to anticipate formal schooling. The Government are committed to providing, by this winter, part-time pre-school education places for all children in the pre-school year; and over time they will extend similar opportunities for three year olds as well.
Improving childcare information
4.8. The increase in the supply of childcare places must be matched by improvements to the information about local provision. Reliable, up-to-date information, in an accessible form, is vital to allow parents with childcare responsibilities to respond quickly to job, training and education opportunities. But many parents, especially those looking for childcare for the first time, struggle to find the information they need. They do not always know where they can go for information and advice. The information which is available is often patchy and out of date.
4.9. Parents need a range of different types of information:
- advice on what to look for in a childcare service;
- help in deciding upon the most suitable arrangement for their children, particularly for children with special needs;
- up-to-date details on what childcare places are available in the area where they live or work; and
- advice on financial support that may be available to help them meet the cost of childcare, including advice on benefits and the childcare tax credit.
4.10. Good quality information can also be used by employers to support their employees who have childcare responsibilities. Employers gain if mothers return to work after maternity leave, and if parents are comfortable at work because they know their children are being well-looked after.
4.11. Employers need
- information about local services which they can pass on to their employees;
- advice about local childcare facilities in which they can invest to secure places for their employees; and
- guidance on good practice so that they can integrate childcare into their forward business planning.
4.12. Good advice and information, although on different matters, is also important for people who are considering offering new childcare services. To plan their services, they need:
- information about local demand for childcare and what other childcare is already provided;
- access to specialist advice, for example on the registration and inspection requirements and on training and qualifications for childcare workers;
- access to business support, advice and training which is appropriately tailored to their needs.
Providers of information
4.13. At present there is no consistency in the provision of information about childcare: information is available from a wide range of sources and the amount of information available varies considerably. Information about childcare services is crucial to the success of the New Deal for Lone Parents. We will ensure that information to inform choices is available in different forms at both national and local level. Personal Job Advisers provide individuals with advice and assistance in making childcare arrangements to meet their needs.
Local information under the childcare strategy
4.14. We want to see information services in all areas to meet parents’ needs. In their childcare plans, we will ask childcare partnerships (see chapter 5) to demonstrate how information services in their areas will be developed, building on local authorities’ existing statutory role, so that all parents can readily find the information they need to help them make their childcare choices.
4.15. To help ensure that the services meet the needs of parents, we believe that these local information services should meet minimum standards specified at national level. There would be benefits if the common standards allowed for information at a future point to be made available electronically through public information services run, for example, by the Employment Service, Benefits Agency and public libraries.
Responding to individual needs
4.16. Different people will have different preferences for the way they access information. The Internet allows information to be widely available and easily updated but where information is available electronically it should be user-friendly and easily accessed by non-specialists. Some people may prefer to use printed materials. Others may prefer to seek guidance from an expert adviser, who may have access to electronic information. Information services should offer a choice of delivery mechanisms.
4.17. Whatever arrangements are adopted, parents should expect, as a minimum, up-to-date and comprehensive information about the full range of provision available locally and that legal requirements concerning registration have been met. Information covered should include
- the age range for which the provider caters;
- the hours offered throughout the year;
- holiday provision;
- cost; and
- current vacancies.
4.18. Services also need to provide information for parents who may have particular needs, for example, who are seeking care for a child with disabilities or to cover unusual working hours.
4.19. Our Green Paper on welfare reform (New Ambitions for Our Country: A New Contract for Welfare, Cm 3805, The Stationery Office) endorses the principle that those who face barriers to work should have a personal adviser to help pull together a package of measures to help them into work.
Resourcing childcare information services
4.20. Setting up a childcare information service can be particulary expensive. The extra funding which we will be providing to local authorities in 1998-99 will help them to make a head-start on their development.
4.21. The running costs of a good service can be substantial. Keeping childcare information up-to-date, particularly information on vacancies, is resource-intensive. Local authorities have a duty to provide information on childcare services. There is a range of other possible funding sources: employers, Local Enterprise Companies, childcare providers, parents and others are all potential beneficiaries of good quality information services and could be expected to help in their upkeep.
4.22. Depending on how developed existing services are, it may be appropriate for local childcare partnerships, in developing their childcare plans, to co-ordinate the development of childcare information services in each area. Through discussion with employers, providers, voluntary organisations, statutory bodies and others, they could establish the service that is needed and how it should be managed and funded. Different solutions will be appropriate for different areas. There may be particular problems developing information services in rural and inner-city areas. There may be advantage in neighbouring local authorities areas working together closely to ensure that information about all local provision is readily available.
4.23. Once established, childcare information services might operate employer subscription schemes to help cover the costs of maintaining and developing the service.
4.24. We will:
- ask local childcare partnerships to demonstrate through their childcare plans that there is a local childcare information service in its area which meets national standards.
Information at national level
4.25. The new Learning Direct free helpline already offers information on learning opportunities and helps people find out about where they can get childcare whilst they learn.
4.26. Alongside the Learning Direct helpline, we will support a childcare helpline to provide parents and their advisers with a single contact number for childcare enquiries. We envisage that this will offer a “signposting service”, providing callers with details of how to contact local childcare information services.
4.27. We will also consider whether there is scope for the helpline also to signpost both potential and existing childcare providers to information and business advice and provide information to employers on how they can help their employees with their childcare responsibilities.
Consultation point 6
Are there types of childcare, or localities or age groups of children, that particularly require attention under the strategy?
Consultation point 7
How should good quality childcare information services be funded and
managed?
Consultation point 8
What areas should be covered by the proposed minimum standards for childcare information services?
Consultation point 9
What childcare information is best offered at national level?
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