Early years organisations have expressed mixed feelings about the Government's refusal to pay the new version of its childcare tax credit to providers instead of parents.
Some nurseries and childminders have lost thousands of pounds under the scheme, and in a consultation on the tax credit last year early years representative bodies called for the Government to pay the money direct to the care provider. But the third annual conference on Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships in London last week heard that while the Government has decided to keep paying the money to parents it will also be paid annually rather than on a six-month basis and 'safeguards' will be introduced to ensure the money pays for childcare and nothing else.
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