Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson is delivering a speech at the centre-right think tank Onward on Thursday, on the need to reform the childcare sector and cut the cost of childcare for working families.
At an event in Westminster Phillipson will say that a Labour government would not continue to throw taxpayers’ money at the Conservatives’ broken, ‘jerry-built’ system of free hours, which has seen struggling providers given less money by government than the Department for Education (DfE) says it costs to deliver them.
In the speech she is expected to highlight the failings of the Conservative model for funding childcare, saying that ‘the government knows how much it costs to fund their model, and yet gives providers less.
‘The Conservatives offer parents so-called free hours then pay providers below the going rate to deliver them.
‘The market that this underfunded hours system has created is one where providers go bust too often, where parents pay extortionate costs for extra hours, where managers cannot find the staff they need, and where staff cannot get either the pay or the progression they deserve.’
The speech is being delivered on the same day as two separate surveys by sector organisations, the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) and Coram Family and Childcare. The Coram survey highlights the 'sharp drop' in childcare places across England, while the NDNA says that more than 98 per cent of nurseries are losing money on providing funded hours.
According to Labour’s analysis of the DfE’s Childcare and Early Years Provider survey in 2022, the cost of childcare for under twos now costs parents £800 more since the Conservatives introduced the 30 hours.
The table below from Labour is the party's analysis of DfE figures showing the mean hours cost increase for a 30 hours place – i.e the cost for parents of funding 30 hours for a two-year-old is £809.40 more expensive than in 2018.
- Source: Labour analysis of DfE's Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey, 2022
Labour’s analysis also shows that more than 15,000 providers – around a fifth – have ceased trading since free hours were introduced, while more than 5,000 have closed this year, leading to less availability and higher costs. According to the party's research, there are now more than two children for every childcare place in England.
Labour has said that failure to support providers is driving up prices for parents as nurseries and childminders seek to recoup losses with higher prices for paid-for childcare hours to stay afloat, though this has meant many have been forced to close altogether.
Echoing comments made in a speech earlier this week at the Nursery World Business Summit, Phillipson will say that the childcare system is 'broken', and complex and confusing for parents.
She will say, ‘The childcare model the Conservatives have built fails everyone, denying parents the ability to work the jobs they’d like, to give their children the opportunities they’d like, and is not of the quality that staff want to provide.
'In the Britain the Conservatives will leave behind, tweaking the system we have will not deliver the ambition or scale of reform we are going to need.
'Labour’s missions must be central to breaking down the barriers to opportunity in this country. To breakdown those barriers, our Mission commits to reforming the childcare system: that will be my first priority.'
Anna Feuchtwang, director of the National Children’s Bureau, said, 'I welcome Bridget Philipson’s commitment to putting children’s early years at the heart of Labour’s programme for government. Childcare and early education play a central role in closing the gap between children from poorer backgrounds and their peers, and we would see this as a key success measure of any future reforms.
'Alongside ensuring affordable choices for parents, central government must set the standards it expects for every child to thrive and, crucially, fund this appropriately.'
