CEY0635

Written evidence submitted by FUNdays Club Ltd

Childcare Entitlements  

• 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? 
• 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?
• 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

Use of API keys to automate the process for government tax-free credit scheme would help. This would allow online booking systems to automate it. Currently, it is a manual process increasing costs for providers, which has to be passed on to families and is a administration barrier for wanting to advertise it more widely.

• 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?  

Hourly rates offered in other sectors for similar levels of qualifications make recruitment a big challenge.

January 2023