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Tax-free childcare - early years organisations call for direct funding

Early years and childcare organisations responding to the Government's announcement that childcare vouchers will be extended to more working families are calling for a more simplified funding system that would pay providers directly.

The National Day Nurseries Association welcomed the move to extend the benefits of childcare vouchers to more parents, but added that the system must be user-friendly and easy for nurseries to administer.

Chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, ‘We also need to make sure that lower and middle-income families benefit and support is available where it is needed most, including for families in receipt of universal credit.’

‘Parents may be disappointed by the two year wait but it is important that we get the scheme right for parents and childcare providers. We hope that the Government will use this opportunity to consider how early years funding can be reformed to make life easier for parents and childcare providers. We would like to see funding reform which brings together the money for childcare tax credits, childcare vouchers and free nursery entitlement places. A simplified system where all the funding is pooled in an electronic voucher that parents could pay directly to childcare providers would give parents choice and reduce waste and red tape.’

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