Under the Tories, the expansion of subsidised childcare was very much a ‘good news’ story for parents. With its potential to unburden families from exceptionally high childcare costs in the earliest years, what was not to like?
How quickly the mood has changed. The former government’s ambitious plans, which extend to 30 hours’ provision for babies and children by this time next year, are now weighted with doom and gloom. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson was recently grim about fulfilling this inherited policy to its full ambition (NW online, 19 August). She said, ‘I wish I could promise everything is fine. But I won’t sugarcoat it.’
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