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Charities lobby for foster children to access 30 hours childcare

A group of charities have written to the children and families minister urging him to extend the 30-hours of funded childcare to foster carers.

Under the policy, three- and four-year-olds in families where all parents work are entitled to the 30 hours, but children in foster care are exempt.

In an open letter, published in the Guardian, a group of 13 charities concerned with children’s welfare argue that fostered children have been ‘explicitly and inexplicably excluded’ from the policy, and call on the children and families minister Robert Goodwill to reverse the ‘discriminatory decision with immediate effect’.

They go on to say, ‘Fostered children must have access to the same opportunities as other children.

‘Moreover, foster carers are, as a group, unpaid or underpaid and often cannot rely on their fostering income. They may therefore benefit from this extra childcare, especially those who foster members of their family and provide long-term care.’

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