The Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, has openly admitted that she cannot ensure the government’s commitment to providing new free childcare hours will be met promptly, citing a lack of control over various components. Keegan acknowledged the challenges associated with tens of thousands of businesses tasked with delivering 15 hours of free childcare per week for two-year-olds starting in April in England, with plans to expand to 30 hours for children as young as nine months by September 2025.
Last month, The Guardian reported numerous issues plaguing the flagship scheme, including problems with funding allocation for nurseries, staff shortages, and technical glitches hindering parents’ access to the required code for the support promised in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s last spring budget. In response to concerns and chaos surrounding the scheme’s introduction, ministers devised a last-minute “workaround” to address parents’ difficulties in accessing the new free childcare hours.
During an appearance on Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips program, Keegan stated, “Guaranteeing something in the future is something that you can never do. All you can do is put all the plans in place and then react if you need to.” She expressed confidence that the implemented measures would ensure every parent desiring a place would secure one. However, she refrained from providing a personal guarantee, emphasizing the multitude of businesses involved in growing capacity and ensuring sufficient staffing.
Former Tory education secretary Justine Greening acknowledged the delivery of additional hours as “very challenging” and deemed it a crucial test of the competence of Rishi Sunak’s government.
To address the impending staffing crisis and increase capacity, the government recently launched a £6.5 million-backed recruitment campaign in the early years sector, just two months before the expansion’s first phase begins in April. A trial, set to occur in 20 local authorities in England, will offer a £1,000 cash payment to new recruits and those returning to the early years workforce shortly after taking up a post.
Despite these efforts, sector leaders and campaigners argue that the “Do Something Big” campaign was initiated too late and the proposals represent only a small fraction of the support required to implement the changes successfully. The comprehensive plan includes providing 15 hours of free childcare for working parents of two-year-olds from April, extending it to parents of all children older than nine months from September, and eventually expanding to 30 hours for these children within a year.
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