Education and skills minister Margaret Hodge revealed last week that from September the maximum rates of childcare grant available in England and Wales are to be increased from 100 to 135 a week for a student with one child and from 150 to 200 a week for a student with two or more children. The increase will cost the Government 2.7m.
Mrs Hodge said, 'We want to make sure that parents with young children are not denied the opportunity to study because they can't afford childcare costs. If these parents can study and improve their qualifications, they will be able to offer their children a brighter future.' The means-tested childcare grant pays 85 per cent of registered childcare costs during term times and short vacations and 70 per cent during the long vacation. Set up in January 2000, it was welcomed by lone parent organisations who had been campaigning for student parents to have more help with childcare costs, as they did not qualify for the childcare tax credit element of the Working Families Tax Credit.
The National Childminding Association (NCMA) welcomed the move. Its chief executive, Gill Haynes, said, 'Students' children should have the same opportunities for quality childcare and education that children of working parents enjoy.'
In Scotland, ministers have unveiled a 24m childcare package aimed specifically at students who are lone parents. Lone parents in higher education will receive means-tested 1,000 childcare grants, while further education colleges will receive 7.5m to widen childcare provision to meet locally-identified needs, and local authorities will receive 8m to increase support for out-of-school clubs in disadvantaged areas. Out-of-school clubs are particularly popular with lone parents and the Scottish Executive says the cash will sustain places for up to 4,000 children.
This is the first time that lone parents in higher education in Scotland have had access to help with childcare costs, though some has been available in further education since last year.
