Newspaper Column 10th July 2023 - The Cost of Childcare

 

As a working mum both before and since becoming Member of Parliament for Truro and Falmouth, I know all about the pressures that needing to find childcare can put on mums, both those currently working and those looking to return to work.

The childcare system has been one that has long needed reform, and during my time as MP this is something I have called for in Parliament, as well as welcoming the Government’s early years champion Andrea Leadsom MP down to Truro and Falmouth on several occasions so she could see first-hand some of the issues we face in Cornwall.

It was great news then, in the Chancellor’s Spring Budget earlier this year, to see that hundreds of thousands more working parents will be supported through an extension of the free childcare on offer, more than doubling the current support in place. This will help mums in particular, to stay in work and keep the economy growing.

The Government knows that childcare is one of the biggest costs facing working households, which is why we want to make it cheaper and more accessible, to reduce the barriers preventing some parents from going back to work.

Currently, parents who work more than 16 hours a week and earn less than £100,000 are entitled to 30 hours free childcare a week for children aged three to four.

The Chancellor in his Budget Statement confirmed that the Government will be expanding the scheme so that working parents of all children over the age of nine months are also entitled to free 30 hours of childcare. This is a transformational change that will make a difference to families across the country.

Since the Budget I have been pushing behind the scenes to ensure that Cornwall benefits from these changes as soon as possible, and I was delighted on Friday last week the Government confirmed that Cornwall Council is among 16 selected from across the country to develop additional plans also announced in the Budget, for wraparound childcare for parents of primary school aged children in England.

In addition to the plans mentioned above for pre-school children, this scheme will see all parents of children in this age group able to access childcare in their local area between the hours of 08:00 and 18:00.

This means that Cornwall Council will be expected to be among the first to rollout the wraparound care from next summer, before the scheme is expanded to further councils from September 2024, a real boost for parents who work or want to return to work, in Cornwall.

I look forward to working with Cornwall Council to ensure these plans are brought forward and used as soon as possible, and also await the additional free childcare hours for younger children in 2024 and beyond.

As always, I am fully focused on the job at hand and if there is ever anything at all I can do to help, then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held in a covid-safe environment at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.