FAMILIES HIT WITH CHANGES TO CHILDCARE

The UK government are cutting a tax-free childcare scheme which could see Scottish families losing up to £2,000 a year. 

The tax-free childcare scheme was introduced last year in a bid to save working families money from ever increasing fees, making them more affordable. However thousands of families failed to make the claim and get their money back through the programme. 

Replacing childcare vouchers, the scheme offered parents working 16 hours or more per week with a child aged 11 or younger the chance to claim back £2 for every £8 they spent on childcare meaning that basic-rate taxpayers would be exempt from paying tax on this cost.  However, as less than a quarter of the eligible 1.5 million parents have signed up funding is being cut from 3.1 billion to 2.4 billion. Eligibility can be calculated on the GOV website if your childcare provider hasn’t already signed up.

If your child is under 12 years of age you could be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare and receive £2,000 per child, per year towards childcare costs #childcarechoices #SmarterGov https://t.co/T3x7J5qYl8 pic.twitter.com/lRCQX7fmkO

— HM Revenue & Customs (@HMRCgovuk) November 8, 2018

One local parent has said: “I have little support and until now I worked self-employed and literally worked around my son’s school and social life to enable me to get money. Only now that he is older can I work full time. It's hard to say what Scot Gov can do to help families with child care. I think it changes for each family. Each family situation is extremely unique and I do know that many families would be better off financially if they never worked rather than pay for childcare for babies and preschool children.”

With families in Scotland also eligible for 600 hours of free childcare if their children are between the ages of 3-5, local campaign group Free Funding For Our Kids who are a “parent-led campaign bringing together everyone concerned that parents can't access the childcare they are entitled to” have spent the last four years investigating why many are not receiving that. 

Their report suggests that “two out of three children attending council nurseries are only allowed to take their free places in blocks of three hours and ten minutes. This is impossible for many working families, who end up missing out on their entitlement.

Childcare is now a political issue and we give the Scottish Government and other political parties credit for recognising how important it is. But we still hear Government claiming that the 600 hours has been delivered, and we know that's not true.”

The main issues surrounding this being a lack of flexibility from care providers who may only be able to offer half days or reduced hours thus excluding many working families who can’t make alternate arrangements with their employers. There are also not enough places for some children due to such a high demand with no funding options for those forced to go somewhere private. This is forcing a strain upon childcare providers, with 80% of private facilities reporting a loss at the hands of the Scottish Government due to its subsidised funding in some places.

. @NdnaScotland research will be quoted in a motion to be debated tomorrow, which will look at the levels of funding to deliver @scotgov #1140hours of childcare policy by 2020.

We also sent a briefing to MSPs & we'll be at the session tomorrow.

👉 https://t.co/sPnYw6ZLSg pic.twitter.com/jbxd7Remb8

— NDNA (@NDNAtalk) 30 October 2018

The Scottish Government however has stated that by 2020 they will double the number of free early learning and childcare hours to 1,140 (around 30 hours per week) and allow parents the ability to choose where their child attends, despite concerns from spending watchdog Audit Scotland which suggests this may cause premises ultimately to collapse due to lack of funds.