David Cameron’s free childcare pledge is underfunded, says leading thinktank
The Independent | Jane Merrick, Political Editor | Saturday 3 October
Funding for David Cameron’s flagship election pledge to give working parents 30 hours a week of free childcare will fall short by £1bn a year, a new report has claimed.
The analysis by the IPPR think-tank warns that the cost of doubling childcare for three- and four-year-olds will be £1.6bn a year, far higher than the Treasury’s estimates of £670m for that year.
The report will fuel concerns that the childcare pledge, made by the Prime Minister during the election campaign, will undermine the quality of care and ratchet up costs for nurseries, because it doubles the existing provision of 15 free hours without any detailed evidence that there will be the staff and resources to cover the extra hours. The Government has only allocated an additional £365m for the first full year (2017-18) rising to £670m in 2020-21.
