FREE CHILDCARE FOR 50,000 FAMILIES

08 September 2008

Low income families across the country are to get free childcare so they can access training and return to work, thanks to a new £75million programme announced by the Government today.

The 'Free Childcare for Training and Learning for Work' programme will support 50,000 low income families where one parent is working and the second parent wants to improve their skills so that they can return to work. As well as free childcare, families will receive help from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to identify and attend training. Workless families who cannot get support from elsewhere will also be eligible.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls said:

"We are committed to eradicating child poverty and have already lifted 600,000 children out of poverty. This new programme will help families break out of the poverty trap.

"High quality, affordable childcare is vitally important. By making this offer we are helping parents who would otherwise find it difficult to get financial help for childcare, to gain the skills and the confidence they need to return to work."

Minister for Children and Young People, Beverley Hughes said:

"Today's announcement will help lift families out of poverty by enabling them to gain the skills they need to enter the workplace. We are committed to ensuring that high quality, flexible and affordable childcare is available to every family, to give children the best start in life and to parents to balance work, training and study, and caring for their children."

The programme, to be delivered through LSC, will be available in the 67 Local Authorities with the highest number of eligible families from January 2009, and extended to all remaining Local Authorities in September 2009. Childcare costs of up to £175 per week per child (or up to £205 per week per child in London) will be paid directly to the childcare provider.

Stephen Timms, Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform said:

"Families living on low incomes, where only one partner is working, often need further training before they can compete in today's jobs market.

"The £75 million announced by Government today opens up new opportunities for the whole family - enabling parents, where only one partner is working or in some cases workless families, to be offered free childcare so that they reassess their skills. Better skills lead to better jobs and better incomes and will in the longer-term help lift whole families out of poverty. I am delighted that JobCentre Plus will have a hand in delivering this new initiative."

Minister for Skills David Lammy said:

"We know that having good childcare provision in place is essential to enable parents to get into work or to access training. This initiative provides support in a co-ordinated way to help low income parents improve their skills so they can not just get work but get on at work and improve not just their own life chances but those of their families."

Rob Wye, National Director of Young People's Learning and Skills, said:

"Our research indicates that the costs of childcare are a major barrier to participation in learning. This cost represents a significant obstacle for many families throughout the country and we therefore welcome the introduction of 'Free Childcare for Training and Learning for Work'.

"The new scheme compliments existing childcare schemes offered by the LSC and will help us to encourage a further 50,000 learners back into education.

"We are planning a series of events starting in September to raise awareness of the scheme and explain how it will work in practice. These events will form part of a wider initiative to support all our stakeholders working with low income families and ensure we effectively engage learners most in need of childcare support."

The programme has an allocation of £75m over three years. £10m of this will be spent in year one, £25m in the second year and £40m in the third. It will be linked to the Integrated Employment and Skills strategy and will be delivered in close partnership with Job Centre Plus and other information and advisory services, creating a more co-ordinated approach to helping people into learning with a clear objective of progression to sustainable employment.

Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
1. The attached list shows the 67 Local Authorities and London Boroughs that will be involved in the first phase of the scheme:
[CLICK HERE FOR ATTCHMENT]

2. Payments for childcare will only be made whilst the learner is still attending their course and where the child is attending registered childcare provision. Payments can be made to retain childcare places.

3. The scheme will be administered by the LSC appointed Helpline Assessment and Payment Body (HAPB, Learner Support Service). Both the learning provider and the childcare provider will be required to complete a monthly attendance monitoring form and return this to the HAPB.

4. The learner must not be receiving childcare or travel cost support from any other source (inc. Job Centre Plus, the Sixth Form College Childcare Scheme and Discretionary Funding 20+ Childcare) for costs that are funded through this programme.

5. Although they are eligible to receive support through this programme, groups such as lone parents must seek support through the other programmes to which they are eligible before they can be considered for support. They may be eligible for childcare support through such programmes as Care to Learn (up to 19 years of age, Sixth Form College Childcare Programme, Discretionary funding (20+ Childcare) or Job Centre Plus Childcare Support.

6. The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the 2007 budget that £75m will be made available to fund a new scheme that aims to fund free childcare for 50,000 workless parents to enable them to access training leading to work.

Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk