Blair outlines Labour’s childcare plans
Prime Minister Tony Blair today promised parents a third Labour government would give them ‘real choice’ in how they cared for their children.
Speaking at a Daycare Trust conference on Thursday afternoon, he said ministers would during the next few weeks issue ‘detailed and costed steps’ to expand childcare services to all parents and ensure every child had the best possible start to life.
The aim was to provide parents with more choice in childcare, he said, adding: ‘It has to be real choice, and not forced choice.’
The Prime Minister said Labour had inherited a ‘low base’ of childcare support in 1997 but had made ‘some important progress’ since then, pointing to the Child Tax Credit, new rights for fathers, and support for childcare costs that have been taken up by some 350,000 families.
Childcare was now top of the political agenda because it played a vital role in supporting new working and lifestyle patterns that saw two-thirds of women with children in work, Mr Blair contended.
The Prime Minister welcomed ‘signs of change’ in Britain’s workplace culture, and noted that though the country’s childcare provision had once been ‘among the worst in Europe’ it was now better than in many EU countries.
However, affordable childcare remained out of reach for many – especially those on lower incomes – and demand for childcare outstripped supply in many areas. Recruiting and retaining quality staff was also a problem, he said.
In a swipe at the Conservatives, who launched their own childcare policies earlier today, the Prime Minister said it was only through expanding in a costed and worked-through way that progress would be made. Paying more money to mothers to stay at home could prove a £5 billion ‘fantasy world’.
The Conservatives, however, claim that their proposals would not cost any more – because they would simply replace existing tax credit schemes.
