Projects such as NNI and Sure Start, for example, were good ideas. However, the funding mechanisms attached to them - often based around a three-year period -have been disastrous. Many facilities are now either closing or cannot afford to offer the very provisions for which they were set up.
Sustainability was never thought through.
Nowhere is this lack of consideration to financial probity and sustainability more evident than in nursery education grants. The idea was sound - every child over three could enjoy a period of free nursery education, paid by Government funding.
The idea has been a great success. However, given the cost of scheme to the Treasury, around 3bn per year, the fee rate allocated by local authorities seems to be limited to about 3 per hour. Where did this figure come from? It was set without meaningful consultation with the nursery sector or any real understanding of its commercial impact. The problem is this rate is unsustainable in most areas of the country for quality childcare.
The solution accepted by most local authorities was, until recently, to allow parents to top-up this grant to the level the nursery of their choice actually charged. In this way, all parents had choice of childcare and enjoyed the same financial support.
However, the Children's Minister has recently sought to enforce a change in the way nursery education grants are to be administered - effectively preventing parents topping up their fees. If this succeeds, and it has already met with considerable opposition, then many nursery operators in the private sector will be forced to pull out of the scheme altogether.
This will not only considerably limit childcare provision in some areas, but also disrupt many children who enjoy their nursery place.
What parents want is choice, which is what the Government has always said was the cornerstone of its policy. I suggest the above thinking shows the reverse. It also shows that the Government has, once again, lost sight of the real cost of quality childcare.
Alan Bentley is chairman of the Childcare Corporation
