A DfE proposal for the state to subsidise free 30-hours-a-week childcare for parents of children aged nine months to three years is set to be rejected by the Chancellor in the run up to next month’s Budget, according to press reports.
A Treasury source is said to have told the I newspaper that the Department for Education's proposal to expand free childcare for under-twos, as first reported in The Guardian, is ‘unaffordable’ at a cost of ‘£6bn’ and that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, would be looking at ‘other options from the DfE’ to improve the cost, flexibility, and availability of childcare for working parents and to help get more parents into work.
Providers and nursery staff have taken to Twitter week to vent their ‘deep concern’ about reports to expand free childcare for under-twos without adequate funding for the sector.
Sophie Bramley @phiebramley, a mother, early years practitioner, baby room leader and SENCO with 18 years experience, tweeted about what her role entails and said: 'The early years is stuck on a sinking ship and no one wants to help.'
