Benefit change raises demand for out-of-school places

The OOSA said a demand for an extra 68,000 places for out-of-school care had been created by the regulation that came into effect in October which requires all lone parents of children aged ten and over to register for Jobseeker's Allowance to show they are looking for work, or else face losing benefits.

They say that this is likely to rise even more in 2011 when the rule will apply to lone parents of children aged seven or over (News, 22 July 2008).

The OOSA points out that many primary schools still do not have out-of-school clubs despite the Government's promise to offer extended services in all schools by 2010.

Catherine Wrench, co-founder of OOSA, said, 'The provision of out-of-school care is very uneven across the country. The two big problems affecting the availability of out-of-school clubs is managing demand, and ongoing financial viability. Grants are currently available for setting up clubs, but once this stops, generally after two years, some clubs struggle to keep going financially even though they are providing an essential service to working parents.'

The OOSA is calling for clubs to be funded differently. It suggests providing funding to cover the cost of one member of staff, as staff costs are the biggest outgoing for clubs, or funding free places for all primary school children for one session a week, which would be a form of guaranteed income.

Ms Wrench said, 'It takes around six months to set up a club from scratch, which is no good to a working parent who has just been offered a job. This is why it makes sense to support clubs which are perhaps borderline in terms of viability, so that they are there and ready should the demand increase.'