Free childcare plan in chaos as funding for Tories’ key pledge unravels

Parents face missing out on free support at eleventh hour due to funding disarray

Jeremy Hunt is under fire as it emerged that his key Budget promise to expand free childcare in 2024 is fast unravelling amid “chaos” over funding arrangements.

The chancellor had announced a major extension of free care for this spring in a bid to win back voters – but experts say the sector has not been given enough cash or support to deliver his pledge.

With the Tories hoping for a boost in the run-up to this year’s general election, eligible working parents of two-year-olds have been told they can claim 15 hours a week of free childcare from 1 April.

However, council bosses have warned that the funding will not be in place for nurseries by then – with cash-strapped providers facing a “huge crisis” over the number of children places they can offer.

Experts say many families could miss out at the last minute – with some parents telling The Independent they have already been told by their local nursery they cannot offer Mr Hunt’s flagship policy.

Critics laid the blame squarely on Rishi Sunak’s government – saying Mr Hunt and fellow ministers had not backed up their “ill-thought-out” policy with enough financial support.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt during a visit to Busy Bees Battersea Nursery in south London (PA)

Labour shadow children’s minister Helen Hayes said the Tories’ childcare offer to voters in the election year has fallen at the first hurdle.

The frontbencher said the government had squeezed the timeline for funding confirmation, adding: “By failing to plan for delivery, their promises on childcare have been set up to fail.”

The Liberal Democrats said there was a huge crisis looming – with the prospect of some nurseries collapsing – unless the government comes forward with proper funding guarantees.

The party’s education spokesperson Munira Wilson said: “How does this government expect to roll out expansion of childcare when the amount they invest in childcare services is a fraction of what’s needed?”

The Department for Education (DfE) says local authorities have until the end of March to confirm how much they will pay nurseries for extra places.

But childcare under the programme is set to begin on 1 April – meaning many parents may not receive confirmation about a place until weeks after they want to start.

Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are under pressure to deliver wider free childcare before an election expected later in 2024 (Getty)

One expert said parents may even be forced to abandon their returns to work at the last minute if do not get the free childcare they expect.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “This chaos is the fault of the government. The government introduced this new childcare system, they are responsible for funding it. It is an ill-thought-out policy.”

Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said: “Unfortunately, information for local authorities and providers has only recently been made available by central government, and this means they are having to work within a challenging timeframe to ensure arrangements are in place to expand before the start of the April rollout.”

A mother-of-one living in Northamptonshire told The Independent her local nursery has just warned parents they will not be offering Mr Hunt’s flagship policy and will stop providing the funded places for three-year-olds they previously offered.

The Independent recently revealed thousands of nurseries had been forced to close their doors amid staff shortages and a lack of funding, sparking warnings that Mr Hunt’s Budget pledge to offer 30 hours of free childcare for under-fives from 2025 was doomed to failure.

A lot of people are pinning their hopes upon this materialising. I don’t think the government have grasped the danger of making false promises to parents who can’t keep their head above water.

Sarah Ronan

The Early Years Alliance said eligible parents who apply for the scheme through the government website will be given a code to take to a childcare provider who will then notify them if they have spaces available.

Mr Leitch said: “You may qualify for your entitlement but that does not guarantee you a place. It is a huge assumption that you would automatically be given a place. If you are, it may not be the hours you are looking for.

“Alternatively, you could be placed on a waiting list until a space becomes available. This code is then useless – it is a bit like telling someone you can have this free food in a supermarket but then seeing empty shelves when you arrive.”

Mr Leitch, whose organisation represents nurseries, preschools and registered childminders among others, said they have encountered parents who have been on waiting lists for 18 months.

“Waiting lists are likely to grow and grow,” he added. “Parents desperate to return to work will have to abandon their plans and take stock of what to do next. Even if providers have the funding for spaces, the fact is that they may well be struggling to recruit adequate people.”

Mr Leitch argued that Mr Hunt’s new measures are an example of “announce first and do the thinking afterwards”.

The expert noted the childcare sector is already struggling to provide the 30 hours of free childcare per week in term time for three- and four-year-olds in England that was rolled out by ministers in 2017.

Mr Sunak and education secretary Gillian Keegan visit Busy Bees nursery in Harrogate (PA)

Lauren Ellis, a teacher, said her “fantastic” local nursery has been pushed into a position where they can no longer offer any funded places.

“It is a nationwide issue,” the 35-year-old said. “It is not their fault. If the funding had come in, it would have halved my childcare costs. It is another government promise which looks great on the face of it and is a great headline. It looks great going to an election but it is completely flawed. There is a lot of confusion among parents and they can’t plan ahead or plan for other children.”

Ms Ellis said her mortgage had shot up to an extortionate rate for their small two-bedroom house, and childcare was their second highest outgoing.

“We have cut down on holidays,” she added. “We now have no chance of going abroad. Buying new cars – no chance. Also on takeaways and our own clothes shopping.”

Sarah Ronan, director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, said she has spoken to parents who are delaying having children until the new offer is rolled out.

“A lot of people are pinning their hopes upon this materialising,” Ms Ronan added. “I don’t think the government have grasped the danger of making false promises to parents who can’t keep their head above water.”

If the funding had come in, it would have halved my childcare costs. It is another government promise which looks great on the face of it and is a great headline. It looks great going to an election but it is completely flawed.

Lauren Ellis

She urged local authorities to tell providers rates for the new free-hours policy as quickly as possible – explaining services will remain unsure if they can deliver the scheme and how many places they have available until they know the rate.

Ms Ronan added: “The government has run this sector into the ground. The government has knowingly underfunded the sector.”

Recent figures from the schools’ inspectorate Ofsted revealed that 3,320 of the 62,300 nurseries and childminders caring for under-fives in England had shut their doors in the past year alone, leaving 17,800 fewer childcare places available.

The number of nurseries and early years services for under-fives has plummeted by a quarter in recent years, from 84,970 in 2015-2016 to 63,207 in 2022-2023.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of British Industry has estimated that implementing the government’s expanded childcare plans will cost £8.9bn rather than the £4bn ministers have allocated to fund the increase in places.

Responding for the government, a DfE spokesperson said: “We are rolling out the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever, and are confident in the strength of our childcare market to deliver 30 free hours of childcare for working parents from nine months old up to when they start school.

“Our data shows the number of early years staff and places increased in 2023 – but we know there is more to be done. That’s why we are investing hundreds of millions of pounds to increase hourly funding rates and have allocated £100m in capital funding for more early years and wraparound places and spaces.”

They added: “We published our 2024-25 hourly funding rates in November and encourage local authorities to update providers on initial budgets as early as possible ahead of the first phase of the rollout in April.”