Only 55% of parents have found a childcare setting that will accept the new ‘free’ hours for 2-year-olds according to the charity Pregnant Then Screwed
Since January 1st, parents have been able to apply for a code to access the new scheme for 2-year-olds, starting on April 1st. The scheme is the first stage of the roll-out from the government, which pledged a significant investment in childcare in the Spring budget in 2023. However, the execution of the scheme has left parents confused and frustrated with many still unsure if they can access the scheme.
A mere 11% of these parents have been able to get a code. The system itself is causing parents a huge headache – with 17% sharing they simply don’t understand how it works. Some parents complain that they have repeatedly tried to access their code, but the website sends them in an endless loop and then back to the log-in page; others are being sent on a wild goose chase with incorrect advice from the childcare helpline.
Joeli Brearley, CEO and Founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, comments, ‘’We have been inundated with messages from frantic parents who don’t understand the system, or expect to receive their code too late. Meanwhile, many providers haven’t been given the information they need from their local authority to decipher what their income will be from April onwards. Parents can’t access their codes, providers can’t do their financial forecasting – it’s chaos”
Parents are told they cannot apply for a code until their “reconfirmation window” in their government childcare account opens, but many say this won’t happen until late March, just days before the scheme is due to start. A small number say their reconfirmation window opens in April which is after the scheme starts.
Indeed, 69% of parents say their reconfirmation window isn’t open yet. Concerningly, a quarter (25%) of parents say their provider has given them a deadline to provide their code in order to access the scheme; and of those, a half (49%) say the deadline is before their reconfirmation window opens. This means thousands of families are set to be out of pocket when April 1st hits through no fault of their own. The Department for Education has made it clear that there should not be any deadlines before the 31st March, adding additional administrative pressure on providers to process all codes before term starts on April 1st.
