Parents in Wales benefiting from childcare offer but confusion over how scheme works

The independent evaluation of the second year of the Welsh childcare offer’s implementation, carried out by Arad research, surveyed families using the offer and childcare providers.

According to the findings, the offer is particularly benefiting families on a low income, with two-thirds (66 per cent) of parents accessing funded childcare during the 2019 summer term earning the equivalent, or below, the national average.

The biggest area of confusion for parents (and some providers) was the entitlement to childcare during holidays.

Parents are able to use the offer in the school holidays, but this is dependent on when their child starts accessing the offer.

If their child takes up the offer in the autumn term, they are able to use it during nine weeks of school holiday that academic year. This allowance is six weeks, if they start in the spring term, or three weeks, if they start in the summer term.

The main issue voiced by local authorities was that providers’ and parents’ lack of understanding around holiday entitlement can result in incorrect claims and bookings, adding to local authorities’ administrative burden.

The report said, ’Local authorities have refined their correspondence to parents to clarify how and when to use the holiday weeks but observed that there may be a tendency to plan over a shorter term than the longer term academic year resulting in parents using up their holiday weeks early and being surprised at having to pay for childcare during the summer holidays towards the end of the academic year.’

Other misunderstandings occurred because some parents did not understand how the offer affected tax-free childcare and other financial help with childcare e.g. tax credits, and understanding the difference between the early education element and the childcare elements of the offer, and how many hours were able to be used where.

Some local authorities had also come across examples of parents who had struggled to apply for the offer as they had tried to use the website for the childcare offer in England.