The money in the latest round of the DTI's Work-Life Challenge Fund is intended to help organisations and businesses introduce and develop innovative working practices. Child and Co, which is among the UK's 20 largest nursery groups, has chosen Berkshire Consultancy to work with it over the next 12 months.
Ian Millar, Child and Co's director, said the consultancy would address the particular problems faced by the childcare sector, which needs to attract and retain more staff but does not offer high enough salaries for employees who are also parents to be able to afford childcare of their own. It will also look at flexible working arrangements and explore expertise developed in other sectors.
Mr Millar said, 'Salary increases are outstripping inflation as more providers chase fewer staff, and these costs can only be achieved through fee increases for parents. Everyone agrees that skilled childcare staff should be paid a salary that reflects the work they do, but this has started to price good quality childcare outside the range of the very people who the Government are trying to entice back to work. It's a vicious circle which we hope this consultancy will go some way to addressing.'
Child and Co is the second nursery group to be awarded a grant from the Challenge Fund, which was set up in March 2000. Northamptonshire-based Kinder-quest received funding last year. Other award winners include NHS trusts and local authorities as well as commercial businesses.
Mr Millar said, 'The Work-Life Campaign is all about employers recognising that their staff have a life outside of the workplace and often this leads to conflicting demands that can impinge upon their performance at work. By addressing these issues we hope that our staff teams will be happier and more effective.'
Guidance on applying for the next round of the Challenge Fund is expected to be published in February or March. For details contact the Work-Life Balance Team on 020 7925 5415 or see the website www.dti.gov.uk/work-lifebalance.
* See Special Report, p10
