My name is Liz Wren
I’m answering this as an ex childcare provider (daycare nurseries in Central London):
Section One: Childcare Entitlements
1. How affordable and easy to understand is the current provision of childcare in England and what steps, if any, could be taken to improve it, especially in relation to families living within the most deprived areas in England?
- Childcare is expensive because of the high numbers of staff needed to look after children. This should not change as the quality of care will inevitably be impacted.
- The range of childcare options is not difficult to understand in principle.
2. Are the current entitlements providing parents/carers with sufficient childcare, and to what extent are childcare costs affecting parents/carers from returning to work full-time?
- Parents have to be in high earning jobs to afford nursery fees when returning from mat leave. Many mothers are prevented from returning to work due to
- a) lack of under 2yr old places in formal settings
- b) cost of care
- c) inability to rely on relations/other for non-paying care
- To an extent, the hours childcare is available is also a factor in some places due to travel times, particularly in cities
- Undoubtedly, lack of affordable childcare negatively impacts women far more than men. They have to manage their work hours carefully and generally juggle the household too. This is probably more prevalent in disadvantaged families (Anecdotally - I don’t have hard evidence for this)
3. Whether the current Tax-Free Childcare scheme, and support for childcare from the benefits and tax credit system, is working effectively or whether these subsidies could be better used within other childcare subsidies
- Tax free subsidies could be linked to proof of employment
- Need to consider the impact on nursery providers as this increases admin considerably.
Section Two: Early years provision
4. What challenges do early years providers face in terms of workforce, including recruiting, and retaining qualified staff, and the barriers faced by individuals joining the profession? To what extent has the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated workforce challenges?
- This is a massive impact – as it is in social care generally. There is no incentive for individuals to go into the early years profession as it is low pay shift work, a lot of report writing (which many individuals who would naturally lean towards this career are not strong at), and a lot of covering for colleagues due to staff sickness/absence.
- Providers are caught in an impossible point of having to keep costs down as much as possible, which means staff are not paid a decent wage.
5. Whether the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system is meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN), and the improvements that could be made to better support young children with SEN within early years provisions
6. To what extent does the early years system adequately prepare young children for their transition into primary education, particularly children from disadvantaged backgrounds
- To attract early years ‘teachers’ rather than simply care staff would prepare children much better. However as a provider we found this next to impossible as there is no perceived progression, and still low wages for qualified teachers.
- In fairness, most nurseries try extremely hard to develop and enrich children for primary education – and generally do a good job.
7. The extent to which the reduction of Sure Start Children’s Centres has affected children and families, particularly children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the role of Family Hubs