Nursery World - 'Raise tax credits to reach parents'

The level of Working Tax Credit (WTC) paid to parents should be raised to help tackle the chronic shortage of affordable childcare places in some areas, a London local authority says. The London Borough of Camden launched a campaign called Families Need Childcare last week to press for more ring-fenced revenue funding so that other local authorities can create more affordable places, in advance of chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget on 17 March.

The London Borough of Camden launched a campaign called Families Need Childcare last week to press for more ring-fenced revenue funding so that other local authorities can create more affordable places, in advance of chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget on 17 March.

Camden has one childcare place for every seven children aged between nought and two, and research by the council has found that even parents claiming the maximum in WTC can only afford to meet about 40 per cent of the average Pounds 245 weekly cost of a place at a private nursery.

Camden, along with Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster, is one of four London local authorities on whose behalf the Daycare Trust is currently carrying out research into how to boost the low take-up of WTC in the capital. Daycare Trust director Stephen Burke said, 'We fully support moves to make the tax credit work better by reflecting the real costs of childcare in London.

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